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PHILADELPHIA 

CAREY AND HART 126 CHESTNUT ST 

1849. 



RAMBLES IN YUCATAN 



OK, 



NOTES OF TRAVEL THROUGH THE PENINSULA, 



INCLUDING 



A VISIT TO THE REMARKABLE RUINS 



OF CHI-CHEN, KABAH, ZAYI, AND UXMAL 



WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS. 



BY B. M. NORMAN. 



SEVENTH EDITION. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

CAREY AND HART, CHESTNUT STREET. 

1849. 



r\^^^ 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1842, 

By J. & H. G. LANGLEY, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the 
Southern District of New York. 



i:iV 






PrIIi,.iuELPHI/v . 
SHKRM A N,, PR IN TEE. 

iSt'SK Jariies Street. 






PREFACE 



TO THE SEVENTH EDITION. 



In putting forth the seventh edition of his work, the 
author feels himself called upon gratefully to acknow- 
ledge that kind appreciation of his humble effort, 
which creates a demand for the new issue. He is fully 
sensible that the merit lies in his subject, and not 
in himself, or his manner of presenting it. And 
this conviction affords him more and truer gratifi- 
cation than could possibly be derived from the 
ephemeral reputation of a popular tourist, or a suc- 
cessful delineatdr of scenes rarely explored. 

The growing interest in the subject of American 
Antiquities, which has received a fresh impulse from 
the recent visit to Mexico of so many intelligent 
observers, connected with our noble army, is a most 
encouraging omen, and favours the hope that the time 



IV PREFACE. 

is not distant when there will be something like a 
national enthusiasm to appeal to in its behalf. It 
is surely worthy of a place in our sympathies as 
Americans. Pride of country; characteristic curi- 
osity ; a natural love of the marvellous ; a generous 
ambition to enlarge the boundaries of human know- 
ledge ; an adventurous spirit of enterprise, that dreads 
no danger, that shrinks from no hardships, and is 
not readily discouraged by loss or sacrifice ; — all these 
solicit our attention to this interesting field of inquiry, 
and indicate our fitness to enter and explore it. 

To us more than to any other nation, it should 
be interesting to know all that can be known of the 
continent in which we reside, and of which we form 
the most important and conspicuous part; to inquire, 
and if possible, to determine, when and by whom 
these wonderful works which lie in ruins within and 
around our borders, were constructed; who were 
the mysterious races, and whence they came, that 
occupied and cultivated these wide territories and 
filled them with monuments of their power, greatness, 
wisdom, and skill, long before the ancestors of our 
race came hither. The enigma may baffle, but it 
should not discourage, inquiry. In some of the most 
interesting investigations of human science, though 
the primary object has failed to be realized, a secon- 
dary and scarcely inferior one has been reached and 



PREFACEo V 

established. It may be so in this case. Let us 
•explore the ground. Let us secure all that can be 
secured by thorough research and patient inquiry. 
Let us leave nothing unattempted which reason may 
command, or even an enthusiastic curiosity suggest. 
If we do not accomplish all that we desire, we shall, 
at least, rescue from ulter oblivion and decay the 
relics that have come down to us. We shall embalm, 
for posterity, the monuments, if not the names and 
memories of a departed race. 

Previous to the discovery of these ancient ruins, 
our western continent was known only as the New 
World. We had no antiquities but our cloud-reaching 
mountains, our hoary forests, and the animal and 
vegetable remains imbedded in our soil. While these 
carry us back to the days of old, to the flood, and 
the creation, they speak only for themselves, and for 
the ages that have passed over them. They reveal 
none of the secrets of man's history, or his works. 
They address themselves to our notice only as sub- 
jects of science, an appendix to the great unwritten 
volume of natural history. But these ruins are a 
new revelation, an unsealed volume in the history of 
our species. They speak not to our curiosity and 
taste alone, but to our human sympathies, to our social 
affections, to our family pride. For, like tablets of 
undeciphered hieroglyphics, or rolls of half-obliterated 



Vi PREFACE. 

parchment, drawn out from the ruins of some ances- 
tral castle, they are the sole relics of a remote branch 
of our own family. 

It is another omen for good, that, in the selection 
of agents to represent our government abroad, some 
reference is now had to the interests of science, as 
well as those of commerce and our political relations. 
In this respect the governments of Europe have been 
long and far in advance of ours. In the appointment 
of their consuls, charges, &c., men have been selected, 
who, without neglecting any of the appropriate duties 
of their station, could, at the same time, subserve the 
interests of science and literature, by investigating 
the peculiar institutions and remarkable antiquities of 
the countries to which they were accredited. So 
negligent have we been in this respect, hitherto, that 
the Department at Washington is often indebted to 
books of travel, and the journals of amateur adven- 
turers, for that information respecting the places where 
our foreign agents reside, which forms the basis of 
its official instructions, and which the Department, 
through the correspondence of its agents, should pos- 
sess in all its details. While it is not to be suggested 
that any man should be chosen to represent the 
country abroad merely on account of his literary 
taste or reputation, so much regard may always be 
had to that consideration as to secure along with it 



PREFACE. Vll 

a faithful devotion to all mercantile and political inte- 
rests, a due attention to every circumstance in the 
history, geography, and antiquities of every country 
where it is important that our government should be 
represented. It is to be hoped that the principle will 
be carried out, till our country shall be known every- 
where as not less the liberal patron of learning and 
the arts, than the watchful guardian of a world-wide 
commerce. 

New Yokk, July, 1849. 



PREFACE 



To those wlio intend to bestow upon the following pages the 
honor of a perasal, it may seem almost supererogatory for the author 
to mention, that it has formed no part of his purpose to prepare a 
book which should owe its leading interest to its literary merits. 
His life has been necessarily more devoted to the dissemination 
of books than to the study of their internal fabrication ; he has 
had but slender opportunities for the cultivation of letters, and 
little of the preparation requisite for a task, to the results of which 
he now solicits the candid consideration of the public. 

Circumstance?, however, of which all that is worthy of detail 
will be found in the following pages, brought under the author's 
observation a portion of our continent which was strewed with 
gigantic and monumental ruins of ancient cities, and which, to 
the several departments of Cosmogony, Archaeology, and Eth- 
nography, appeared in his eyes to be of vast importance. Im- 
pressed Vt'ith this conviction, although the author left his country 
without the remotest intention of making a book upon any subject 
whatever, or even of seeing the wonderful places he has attempted 
to describe, yet, with very inadequate scientific qualifications — 
without instruments, except a knife and compass, and without a 
companion, save an Indian boy — entirely ignorant of the country 
and its people — he was enabled to explore many objects of in- 
terest and curiosity ; and he has resolved to present the substance 
of his observations and researches, in as succinct a manner as pos- 
sible, that those who are competent to avail themselves of his 
labors may digest and present thera to the public in such a form as 
will most contribute to the advancement of true science. 



4 PREFACE. 

It is, therefore, to the facts which it has been the author's privi- 
lege to witness and reveal, and not to the garniture of those facts, 
that he looks, for the interest which he desires to awaken in the 
minds of his readers, and upon which he relies for his own justifi- 
cation in having for once trespassed ultra crepidam into the charmed 
circle of literary enterprise. The almost universal curiosity which 
has manifested itself in every quarter through which public feeling 
has utterance, concerning the vast and unexplained ruins of our 
hemisphere, found in Central America and Yucatan, has not been, 
in modern times at least, excelled by that upon any subject not 
involving some immediate and practical interest, not even except- 
ing the discoveries of modem antiquarians in Egypt. It is neither 
the author's duty nor purpose to analyze this movement, or to dis- 
cern its cause ; it only concerns him to show that he had good 
reason for presuming that further developments of, and explora- 
tions among these mysterious relics of antiquity, could not fail to 
awaken some portion of that interest which the public mind, in 
this country at least, has already manifested. 

A portion of the ruins which are noticed in detail in the follow- 
ing pages had never been visited, to the author's knowledge, by 
any modern traveller before his arrival. Others, which had been 
summarily alluded to, he has portrayed as elaborately and ade- 
quately as his circumstances and scientific qualifications would 
admit ; and, he has no hesitation in saying, far more minutely 
than they had ever before been described. In corroboration of 
these remarks, he ventures to call the reader's attention to the 
chapters which include the ruins of Chi-Chen, of Kabah, Zayi, 
and Uxmal, of which cities, the last only excepted — to which Mr. 
Stephens devotes a few sentences near the conclusion of his re- 
cent popular work upon this subject — no other published ac- 
counts, it is believed, have appeared. 

The author avails himself of the present opportunity to make 
those acknowledgments to the people of Yucatan which could 
not be incorporated with propriety in the body of his work. 
He feels himself under grateful obligations for the uniform kind- 
ness which he received at their hands ; and he begs to assure 
those of his American friends who may feel disposed to visit the 



PREFACE. O 

province of Yucatan, that whatever inconveniences they may expe- 
rience indirectl)'^ from an unfavorable climate and an unsettled 
political organization, they may count upon meeting, among the 
higher ranks of the Yucatecos, a kindliness of feeling and a spon- 
taneity of hospitality vsihich will compare favorably with their 
experience in any other portion of the globe. 

In acknowledging his obligations to the friends who have as- 
sisted him in the preparation of these pages, he would be guilty 
of great injustice did he not tender his most sincere thanks to 
an American gentleman, who has long resided in Yucatan, to 
whom he is indebted for most of the facts connected with the • 
political history of that country, which are embodied in the thir- 
teenth chapter. The long residence of that gentleman in the coun- 
try, and his evident familiarity with its political history, give the 
author reason to rely implicitly upon his acquaintance with the 
subject, as well as upon his fidelity as an historian. 

The author regrets that he is not permitted to give the name 
of the gentleman to whose aid he is indebted for the philological 
remarks contained in the fourteenth chapter, which he ventures 
to believe will prove to the scholar and the antiquarian not the 
least interesting feature of the work. 

It has been the author's intention upon all occasions to acknowl- 
edge his indebtedness to any preceding or cotemporary writer in 
appropriate modes and places in the text, and he believes that he 
has seldom failed in his aim ; at the same time, he feels that to 
Waldeck, a distinguished French traveller, who spent a number 
of years in Central America and Yucatan, his obligations are -of a 
character not to be passed over without a special acknowledgment. 

The illness of the writer during the time the following pages 
were passing through the press, must constitute his apology, 
should inaccuracies be fovmd to disfigure the work. 

The Map is intended to show the geographical position of the 
ruins, and of the towns passed through before aniving at them ; 
and the Plans to define the relative locations of the structures ; 
neither of them, however, is laid out with scientific exactness ; 
it is hoped, ne\ ertheless, they will still be found sufficiently correc* 
to illustrate the descriptions. 



6 PREFACE. 

If the public shall find the work now submitted to them pos- 
sessed of sufficient merit to deserve their regard, or if others shall 
be induced, by reading it, to extend their researches in a similar 
direction, or shall, through its aid, eliminate one new ray of light 
to illumine the dark mystery of its subject, the author will feel 
amply compensated for the trouble he has taken, and will think 
himself entitled to indulge the assurance that his life has not been 
altogether without profit. 

New Orleans, November, 1842. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

Page. 

Setting Out — Accommodations— Arrival at Sisal — Geographical 
and Political view of Yucatan — A Christening — Lady Smokers 

— OflF for the Interior — Merida — A Feast-day — Christmas Eve 

— Christmas Day — Conclusion of a Feast — Holy Unction — 
Indian Character — Soldiers' Return — Holy Days — Gaming - 13 

CHAPTER II. 

Description of Merida, Geographical and Historical — The City — 
Puhlic Squares — The Market — Trade — Habits and Customs 

— Health — The Public Buildings — A way to get a Husband — 
New Year Eve — New Year Day — The City and Environs — 
A Touch of Music — A Country Seat — Congress of Yucatan — 
Franciscan Ruins — More Holy-days — Cock-fighting — A DrUI 

— The Bishop at Home — The College — Miracles - - 34 

CHAPTER HI. 

Mechanical Pursuits — The Circulating Medium — A Ball — A 
Renmant of Franciscans — Signs of Decay in the Suburbs — The 
Cemetery — The Weather — A Whole Congregation Flogged 

— The Wise Men — The Gentlemen — Extra Civilities — The 
Appearances of Trade — Products of the Soil — Education — 
Language of the Indians — The Ancient People — W&ldeck's 
Opinion of them — The Maya Language — The Lord's Prayer 
in Maya — Grammars of that Dialect — Difficulties in Speaking 

it — Traits of the Indian Character ... . - 53 



O CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Page. 
Preparations for the Interior — Outfit, &c. — The Indian Boy — 
Departure from Merida — Arrival at Tixcoco — Calcachen — A 
Feast-day — Isamal at a distance — Arrival there — Our Pa- 
lace — A Procession — Ancient Mounds — The Church — A 
striking Indian — Wrong Impressions — Tuncax — A Dilemma 

— Philosophy of the Road-side — A Dinner — "Visit to a Curate 

— A Touch of Comfort — Mail Carrier — Sitax — An Indian 
Alcalde — Tinum — An Allusion — Valladolid — A Mistake 
rectified in time 73 

CHAPTER V. 

Festival of the Purification — A Factory discovered — New Quar- 
ters — Appearance of Public Buildings — Church — Singular 
Display of Taste — Population and Health — The Tovsm — Its 
Suburbs — Monastic Ruins — Remarkable Sonato — Amuse- 
ments — The Riband Dance — The Market Place — Cotton — 
Ancient Ruins — Difficulties of Strangers — A Norther — Kaua 

— The Churlish Curate — End of a Feast — The Route — Ap- 
proach to Chi-Chen — A Glimpse of the Ruins - - - 91 

CHAPTER VI. 

A Visit to the Ruins — Reflections — Indian Visiters — Detail of 
the Ruins of Chi-Chen — The Temple — The Pyramid — The 
Dome — The House of the Caciques — General Ruins — Mounds 

— Foundations — Characteristics of the Ruins — Materials and 
Manner of Building — The Finish — Fresco Paintings - - 108 

CHAPTER VII. 

An Arrival — Unexpected Honors — Usurpation of Office — Prices 
of Labor — Indian way of Living — A Sonato — An Incident — 
Departure — Yacaba — Sonato at Tabi — Arrival at Sotuta — 
" Las Ruinas" — A Benediction — Cantamayec — Turn Physi- 
cian — Successful Practice — The Reward of Merit — Route to 
Teabo — Its Curate — Mani — Arrival at Ticul — Description 
of Ticul — The Church — Curate — Market-place — Pretty 



CONTENTS. y 

Page. 
Women — Convent — Occupations — Health — Roads — Sugar 

Estates — Ruins of Ichmul — Departure — Cross the Cordil- 
leras - 129 

CHAPTER Vni. 

The Ruins of Kahbah — Those of Zayi — Scattered Ruins — 
Church at Nohcacab — The Padre — The Town — Departure 
for Uxmal — Arrival at the Hacienda — Quarters and Arrange- 
ments — The Scenery — General Character of the Ruins of Ux- 
mal — The Governor's House — The Nuns' House — The Pyra- 
mid — Other Remains — Pyramids, Walls, and Mounds — 
Reservoir — Moonlight - - - - - - - 148 

CHAPTER IX. 

Introductory Facts — Ruins of Yucatan and other parts of Mexico 
— Ruins of North America — Mississippi and Missouri — Look- 
Out Mountain — Ohio River — Mount Joliet and others — In- 
dian Races — Ledyard — Bradford — Dr. Morton — Diversity of 
Opinions — Pyramids of Egypt — Speculations — Vassalage — 
Comparison — Traditions — Embalming — Priesthood — Siam- 
ese — Japanese — Astronomy and Mythology - - - 168 

CHAPTER X. 

Waldeck's Remarks on Uxmal — Ancient Tools — Soil and. 
Health — Ancient Customs — End of Time — The Coronation 
of an Emperor — Religious Beliefs — Marriage Ceremony — In- 
fant Baptism — Origin of those Rites — Plorse Worship — Amuse- 
ments — Markets — Idols^— Candidates for Matrimony — Their 
Worship Varies — Refinements 183 

CHAPTER XI. 

Departure from Uxmal — Abala — The Road — The Curate's 
Hacienda — Arrival atMerida — Hotel de Diligencias — Bishop 
Preaching — Strange Scenes —Parting with Jose — Departure 
from Merida — Coach and Passengers — Scenes of the Road — 
Zibackchen — Accommodations — Arrival at Campeachy - 199 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XIL 

Page: 

Reception at Campeachy — The City — Public Buildings — The 
Convent — The Market — Charity — An Ancient Custom — 
Population — The College — Foundations of the City — Sub- 
terraneous Caverns — The Suburbs — The Harbor^ Climate 
and Health — Various Ruins — The Author's Collection of 
Idols — Dr. Morton on the Archaeology of Yucatan — Other 
Ruins — Reptiles and Insects — A Concealed Nation — The 
Brothers Camachos 209 

CHAPTER XHL 

Political History of Yucatan — The Rochelanos — A Civil Revolu- 
tion — A Tumultuary Movement in the Interior — Santiago 
Iman — Attack on Espita — Retreat to San Fernando — Quiet 
Restored for a Time — Colonel Roquena — Attack on Tizimin 

— Return of the Troops — Attack on Valladolid — Capitulation 

— Succession of Events — A New Constitution — The New 
Congress — New Party — Opinions — Physical Incapacity for 
Independence — The Press of Yucatan . - - - 224 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Remarks on American Languages in general — Conflicting Opin- 
ions of Philologists — Religious Zeal a Stimulus that has pro- 
duced the Grammars and Vocabularies of the American Lan- 
guages — Sketch of the Grammar of the Maya Tongue — 
Concluding Observations respecting its Origin ... 236 

APPENDIX. 

A Brief Maya Vocabulary ..-.•-...-• 255 

Tradition of the Mexican Natives respecting their Migration from the North 264 

Traits of the Mosaic History found among the Azteca Nations - - 267 

Origin of Fire-Worship .......-.- 276 

Great Stone Calendar of the Mexicans 277 

Scientific Acquirements of Ancient Builders in the West • - • • 280 

Predilection of the Ancients to Pyramids 282 

The Remains of Cities 284 

Ridns of the City of Otolum, discovered in North America - • 284 

Ancient Languages of the First Inhabitants of America . • - - 292 

Historical Sketch of Mexico 296 



LIST OF EMBELLISHMENTS, 



Pack. 
Map 

Moonlight — Uxmal Ruins — Fkontispiece - - - - 

Vignette Title-page --...--- 

Indians of Yucatan - - - - - - -- 30 

The Plantain Tree 33 

Yucateco Indian Hut ..-.--- 72 

The Road-side 90 

Sonato near Valladolid ------- gg 

Plan of the Ruins of Chi-Chen ------ 108 

The Temple Ill 

Ornaments of Buildings - - - - - - - -112 

The Pyramid 115 

The Dome - ... 118 

The Front of the House of the Caciques - - . - 119 

The House of the Caciques ------- 119 

Ornaments of Buildings ------- 121 

The Agave Americana - - - - - -- -128 

Ruins of Zayi .--- 151 

Plan of the Ruins of Uxmal - - - - - -155 

Facade of the Governor's House ----- 156 

The Governor's House -------- 156 

Ornaments of Building - - - - - - -158, 159 

The Nuns' House 160 

Ornaments --------- 162 

The Pyramid 163 

The Pigeon Houses 165 

Yucatan Coach crossing the Mountains ... - - 199 

Campeachy --.--.--- 209 

Plate No. L — Idols - 215 

Plate No. II. — Four Idols 215 

Plate No. III. — Four Idols 215 

Plate No. IV. — Fragments of Idols or Ornaments - - 215 

Plate No. v. — Vessels 215 

Plate No. VI. — Turtle and Household Utensils ... 215 

Vignettes, ice, &c. --.-.-.-. 



RAMBLES IN YUCATAN. 



CHAPTER I. 

Setting Out — Accommodations — Arrival at Sisal — Geographical and 
Political view of Yucatan — A Christening — Lady Smokers — Off 
for the Interior — Merida — A Feast-day — Christmas Eve — Christ- 
mas Day — Conclusion of a Feast — Holy Unction — Indian Charac- 
ter — Soldiers' Return — Holy Days — Gaming. 

The prospect of leaving one's country for a sea- 
son, affects different people in very different ways. 
To some, it suggests only the loss of friends, and the 
want of the conveniences which habit may have 
made to them the necessaries of life. By their for- 
midable equipments, their groaning trunks, and sys- 
tematic leave-takings, they intimate a foregone con- 
clusion, that every nation except their own is peopled 
with Ishmaelites, whose hands are ever raised against 
the rest of mankind. There is another class, who 
have faith in man wherever he exists, and who rely 
upon the permanence of the laws of Nature ; who 
do not imagine that a man is necessarily a cannibal 
or a troglodyte because born in a different degree 
of latitude, nor that water will refuse to run down 
hill at a foreigner's request. Through their confi- 
dence in the uniformity of Nature's laws, they feel 



14 SETTING OUT. 

it unnecessary to equip themselves for a campaign 
into chaos when they leave their native land, always 
presuming every corner of this planet, however re- 
mote from the illuminating centres of civilization, to 
be possessed of some of the elements of existence, 
such as air, fire, water, &c., which a traveller may 
spare himself the trouble of bringing from home in 
his trunk. With the latter class, kind reader, the 
author of the following notes deserves to be asso- 
ciated. He would require nothing but a valise to 
contain his outfit for a circumnavigation of the globe, 
and would include the moon in his circuit, if practi- 

> cable, without materially enlarging his equipage, ex- 
cept, perhaps, by some device that would diminish 
the inconveniences of a rarefied atmosphere. This 
faith in the future, this trust in the resources which 
a mind of ordinary intelligence can always command 
under any sun and in any clime, sustained the writer 
in his determination, last fall, to visit some of the 
islands of the West India seas, almost without no- 
tice, and with scarcely more preparation than a 
domestic man would deem essential for an absence 
from home of a single week. The cork-legged 
merchant of Rotterdam did not commence his jour- 
neyings more unexpectedly to himself, nor less for- 

ymidably panoplied against the emergencies of his 
unfortunate tour. To the writer's unpreparedness, 
a term which, in such cases, usually signifies freedom 
from anxiety, he feels indebted for most of the pleas- 
ure which this excursion has afforded him ; and he 
has only cause to regret the want of more elaborate 



DEPAETURE. 15 

preparation, inasmuch as it may have deprived these 
pages of a portion of their interest and value. 

It was at the conclusion of the long and frightful 
season of epidemic disease, which caused many a 
desolated home in New Orleans to be hung with 
cypress during the summer of the year 1841, and on 
the 26th day of November, that I embarked from 
the Crescent city for Havana. My original inten- 
tion had been, to visit the Windward Islands ; but, 
not finding the facilities of intercommunication which 
I had anticipated, and excited by the curiosity of 
seeing a region of country of which but little is 
known to citizens of the United States, I was in- 
duced to change my contemplated route. Accord- 
ingly, after a detention of ten days in Cuba, where 
I had passed some of the happiest days of my youth, 
I resolved to embrace the first opportunity that pre- 
sented itself to run down to the coast of Mexico, 
I was soon enabled to secure a passage on board of 
a Spanish brig bound to Sisal, of which I was prompt 
to avail myself. 

Early on the morning of the 9th of December, we 
slipped by the Moro Castle with a fine breeze, and 
had but just effected a good offing when the vessel 
was suddenly hove to, much to our surprise and alarm, 
and without any apparent reason. Our alarms were 
soon dispelled, however, by the welcome intelligence, 
through the cabin-boy, that " breakfast was ready !" 
Our own countrymen are not indifferent to the 
"family comforts," and the English relish still less 
any interruption at their meals ; but with the Span- 



16 PASSAGE AND ARRIVAL. 

iard eating seems to have risen to the importance of 
a rehgious ceremony. Heaving to for breakfast, in 
a Yankee craft, would be looked at with astonish- 
ment by an American tar — w^e question if it would 
not cancel the ship's insurance policy. Every coun- 
try, however, has its customs, and this is one pecu- 
liar to the flag under which we were now sailing. 
The meal happily ended, the yards were squared 
awa}', and the brig quietly pursued her course. 

The cabin formed a part of the hold, without 
berths, bulk-heads, tables, or chairs. Planks were 
laid down for our accommodation, upon which oui 
mattresses were distributed, the cargo forming sides 
which, as the vessel rolled, served to retain us in oui 
places. There were eight Mexican fellow-passen- 
gers, perfect out-and-outers in the way of eating, 
sleeping, and smoking, which they seemed to con- 
sider the ends for which they lived and moved and 
had their being. The captain proved to be a right 
good sailor, and his vessel, which was dignified by 
the name of a packet, shall be suffered to pass with- 
out censure, as deserving a better fate than awaited 
Sodom, in having at least one good man on board 
in the person of her excellent commander. After 
eleven days of continually pleasant weather we ar- 
rived in sight of the port of Sisal, on the north-west 
coast of Yucatan, on the 20th of the month; and, 
as the bills of lading might conscientiously have 
testified, " in good order and well-conditioned." 

This coast presents a line of shore scarcely merg- 
ing from the ocean, with no distinguishing highland 



LANDING. 17 

to conduct the mariner to his destined port. The 
unpretending little town to which our course was 
directed, at this time, however, very innocently on 
its own part, loomed up from the horizon to an im- 
mense height, and it was not until we had approach- 
ed very near the land that our false impressions were 
corrected. 

We came to anchor about two miles from the 
shore, that being as near as it was deemed prudent 
for vessels of our burden to venture. A felucca, 
manned by three Indians, now boarded us, for the 
purpose of receiving the passengers. The place of 
landing was a long pier-head, loosely put together, 
composed of spiles and plank, the only one in the 
harbor where the imports and exports are received 
and shipped. When once fairly on terra firma, we 
all started under the escort of our worthy captain 
for a public house, followed by a retinue of Indians, 
that gave us for a time at least the consequential ap- 
pearance of Eastern nabobs. This numerous troop 
belonged professionally to the class which in our 
Northern cities besiege the wharves upon the arrival 
of a steamboat, as hackmen, porters, dock loafers, 
&c., but injustice to the Indians be it observed, that 
they are much less clamorous and more civil than 
their more pretentious brethren of the North. 

Early on the morning of our arrival, our baggage 
was sent to the custom-house ; but the politeness of 
the gentlemen attached to that establishment made 
the examination a matter of mere form. This civili- 
ty is acknowledged with the greater pleasure, in con- 

2 



18 GEOGRAPHICAL. 

sequence of its having been accorded without solici- 
tation, and contrary to our expectation. 

With the permission of my reader I will here step 
aside, for one moment, from the detail of my ram- 
blings, to say a single word about the geographical 
and political condition of the country in which I 
> now found myself a denizen, pledging myself, how- 
ever, to detain the narrative upon nothing which will 
not be pertinent to and explanatory of the subsequent 
pages. 

The peninsula of Yucatan extends over a surface 
of some eighty thousand square miles, lying in a 
north-east direction from Laguna du Terminos, and 
jutting out north into the Gulf of Mexico, between 
the Bay of Campeachy and Honduras. It is about 
five hundred miles long, and one hundred and sixty 
broad, and is divided into five departments, eighteen 
districts, and containing two hundred and thirty-six 
towns. It is inhabited by something short of half a 
million of people, the majority of whom are Indians. 

The country is almost one entire plain, half of 
which, to the north, consists of a light soil formed 
upon solid and broken masses of a white lime and 
flint rock. The other, the southern half, is a deep 
rich loam, but much affected by the heavy rains of 
summer, which present serious obstructions to the 
exertions of the agriculturist. There are no rivers 
in the interior. The inhabitants are supplied with 
water from sonatos, or natural wells, which are lib- 
erally distributed throughout the country by the 
formation of supposed subterraneous rivers. 



POLITICAL — SISAL. 19 

Yucatan was formerly a part of the Mexican con- 
tederacy, but having recently declared her indepen- 
dence, she has her own President and Congress of 
legislators, elected by a limited class of qualified elec- 
tors. Various attempts have been made, by menaces 
and by offers of negotiation on the part of the Mexi- 
cans, to reduce the refractory provincials to their 
allegiance, but hitherto without success. The defi- 
ciency of means, and the distracted condition of the 
Confederacy at home, have doubtless prevented the 
Mexicans from qualifying their diplomacy with physi- 
cal force, which is probably the only kind of logic 
that will be conclusive. 

Sisal, the place (as I have already mentioned) at 
which I disembarked, is situated upon the north-west 
side of the peninsula of Yucatan, and is the second 
port of the province. It presents an open roadstead, 
which, during the prevalence of the northerly winds, 
is considered very dangerous. The continuance of 
these storms frequently compels vessels to get under 
way and stand out to sea. The town has little of in- 
terest to strangers. Its population is about one thou- 
sand, consisting principally of Indians, and the resi- 
due are Mexicans. The houses are built of stone, 
are one story high, covering a large space of ground, 
with a court in the centre, embellished with trees 
and plants of the tropics. The roofs of the dwell- 
ings being thatched, give to the streets a somewhat 
singular aspect to strangers. The rooms of these 
buildings are large and airy, and their floors are 
Formed of mortar and sand. Glass is not used; but 



20 CHRISTENING. 

large openings are formed, protected by gratings and 
doors, which admit the necessary supply of light 
and air. 

Near the beach is a small square fortification, 
rudely constructed and oddly enough garrisoned, if 
one may judge from the appearance of the soldiers 
upon guard. The Indians, who exclusively perform 
the menial services required throughout the country, 
seem to be happy and contented. Their wants are 
few and simple. The men wear loose white cotton 
trousers, extending a httle below the knee, with a 
shirt of the same, or striped gingham, a palm-leaf hat 
and sandals. The women wear a simple loose dress 
hanging from the shoulders, loose about the neck, 
and falling negligently to the ankles. These gar- 
ments are more or less ornamented with needle-work, 
according to the taste or the means of the wearer. 
• Although so near home, this scene was so entirely 
new to me, that I was exceedingly anxious to get a 
glimpse of the surrounding country. Unsuccessful, 
however, in finding an immediate conveyance to 
Merida, the capital of the province, we loitered about 
the town during the day, but could not discover any 
very especial signs of business. Every thing appear- 
ed to be dull and inanimate. 

In the evening we were invited, through the polite- 
ness of the Collector of the Port, to attend the bap- 
tismal ceremony of his infant. The priest was early 
at his post, and the whole population of Indians was 
soon collected about the dwelling, and preparations 
were made for a grand procession to the church, 



THE SUPPER — THE PRIEST. 21 

where the child was to be baptized. Every thing 
being in readiness, the whole mass started, led off by 
half-breed Indians and boys, making all kinds of dis- 
cordant sounds, with drums, horns, and whistles ; then 
the priest and the parents, with the child dressed out 
with flowers and ribands, and gold and silver orna- 
ments; after these came the relations and friends, 
followed by the multitude. When they had arrived 
at the church, the performances were conducted in 
the usual Catholic style. The child appeared to be 
the only one who had any cause of complaint. The 
rough hands of the priest, and the continual pour- 
ing of cold water upon its delicate head, fully jus- 
tified its boisterous protestations against such harsh 
treatment. Its restoration to the arms of its mother 
seemed to give great satisfaction to all parties pre- 
sent, except perhaps to the deaf and the blind. 

The company now returned to the house. On 
*he route, small pieces of silver coin were distrib- 
uted among the Indians. The evening was spent, 
as is the custom on such occasions, in the greatest 
hilarity ; and none appeared to enjoy it with a bet- 
ter relish than the priest. Dancing was kept up till 
nine o'clock, when supper was announced. The 
ladies being seated, a place was assigned to me by 
the side of the divine, to whom I had previously 
been introduced. This secured to me a seat in the 
vicinity of the choicest wit as well as wine, that 
was in circulation; for, after paying his respects 
once or twice to the wine that was before him, his 
good humor and sociability soon convinced me that 



22 LADY SMOKERS— REFLECTIONS. 

he would not willingly become the victim of too 
rigid fastings and carnal mortifications. 

Supper being over, dancing was resumed. Those 
ladies and gentlemen who were not upon the floor, 
were smoking. The ladies here are general smo- 
kers ; and do it, too, with a grace which, to a smo- 
ker, is a study. At first, it appeared rather strange 
to receive, from the delicate fingers of a female, a 
lighted cigar, yet fresh with the flavor which her 
own lips had imparted to it ; but, with such tuition, 
we were quickly qualified to assume the customs of 
the country, and we now flatter ourselves that we 
can go through all that delicate etiquette with as 
much ease as though we were " to the manner born." 
The ladies were dressed in the Spanish style, and 
appeared quite charming; they chiefly require ani- 
mation. Their complexion is rather brunette, their 
hair dark, eyes black ; and, generally, they are of a 
low stature. 

We withdrew from the party at an early hour, 
after presenting our sincere congratulations to the 
mother of the " orator of the day," and bidding adieu 
to the hospitable family. Once more in the street, 
we were lost in meditation. The incidents of the 
day came into review before us — the first day that 
we had passed here among strangers in a strange 
land. We found ourselves absolutely regretting to 
part from friends of an hour's creation. He who 
has wandered much in the world may have expe- 
rienced similar sensations. These are some of the 
transitory passages, " the sunny spots" of life, which 



DEPARTURE FOR MERIDA — ROADS. 23 

memory most dearly cherishes. They are snatched, 
as it were, from the dull round of existence, and are 
sanctified by the unexpected gratification that at- 
tends them. These are a part of the items that con- 
stitute what man calls happiness — the jewels, no 
doubt ; and we shall make them lawful prize wher- 
ever and whenever they fall in our way. These re- 
flections brought us to our lodgings, where prepa- 
rations were yet to be made for our departure for 
Merida the next morning ; and, in spite of old phi- 
losophy or new acquaintance, 

" The houi approaches, Tarn maun ride." 

At nine o'clock in the morning my conveyance 
was ready at the door. It was a rude vehicle, called 
here a calesa, somewhat resembling the old-fashioned 
New England chaise, but as heavy and uncouth as 
wood and trappings could make it. The machine 
was drawn by three mules abreast, attached to it by 
plaited ropes. All the preparations having been 
completed, we started under whip and spur, Jehu- 
like, rattling over the rocks, to the no small hazard 
of bones and baggage. Fortunately, this speed did 
not continue long. The road, for two miles, was 
overflowed; and the Indian guide was necessarily 
compelled to direct his team with a greater degree 
of circumspection. 

The road, for the first sixteen miles, was over a 
low marshy country, partially Macadamized, and 
raised in the form of a causeway; rather rough, 
but smooth compared with very many of our own 



24 ARRIVAL AT MERIDA. 

even in the State of New York. The sides were 
filled in with brush-wood as far as Hunucuma, about 
sixteen miles from Sisal. We stopped here, at noon, 
two hours, to give our faithful mules an opportunity 
to refresh, after a sultry morning's travel. This 
pleasant village stands about half way between Sisal 
and Merida, and is surrounded by beautiful shrub- 
bery. From this town, which possesses little interest 
to the foreign tourist, the open country appears to 
advantage ; but it is not under a high state of culti- 
vation. The road hence to Merida is finished in a 
style that would have done credit to the imperial 
enterprise of Hadrian. We passed through several 
small villages, occupied principally by the huts of 
the Indians, and, at five o'clock in the afternoon of 
the 22d instant, arrived at the metropolis, thirty-six 
miles distance from the place of landing, and drove 
up to the door of the amiable Dona Michaele, who 
keeps the only public house in the city — not for her 
own personal advantage, as she informs her guests, 
but solely for their accommodation. Blessings on 
her kind heart, although her professions of philan- 
thropy " something smacked, something grew too," 
yet we believed every word of them, and made our- 
selves perfectly at home in the shortest possible time. 
The residence of this lady stands in about the 
centre of the city, occupying a large space of ground, 
is one story high, with ranges of rooms and stables, 
forming a square, which is filled with fruit-trees of 
the tropics. The rooms are spacious and airy : they 
have large doors, and balconied windows, grated, but 



THE LANDLADY— GUESTS. 25 

without glass. The floors are laid with stone, set in 
mortal*. Of the Dona and her table, I may be per- 
mitted to say, that when I paid my bill I felt that I 
had cancelled all the obligations which her bounty 
had imposed upon me. Chocolate, with " panadul- 
za," a sweet bread made by the nuns, is served early 
in the morning, according to the general custom of 
the country ; breakfast is ready at nine o'clock, made 
up of Spanish American dishes, composed of strips 
of meat, eggs, tortillas, and frejoles, (that is, corn- 
cake and black beans,) with coffee and wine. Her 
guests consisted of two Americans besides myself, 
who came here to trade, and remained, not to pray, 
but to be preyed upon by the most dismal prospects — 
three Mexican officers, who were exiled by Santa 
Ana ; and three Spanish Jews, who were from Ha- 
vana, with merchandise. Dinner was served at three 
o'clock. The Dona undoubtedly gave her boarders 
the best the market afforded, for she certainly exert- 
ed herself to render them satisfied with their fare. 
It would be absurd to enumerate dishes, and to object 
to the style of cooking because it did not happen to 
be in accordance with my own preferences or habits. 
Among the Mexicans of our company, however, it 
may not be improper to remark, that etiquette in the 
disposition of their food was but little observed ; and 
knives and forks were unceremoniously thrown aside 
for the more primitive utensils with which nature 
had provided them. 

The 23d of December was the festival of St. 
Christoval. It was made, like all the saints' days in 



26 FESTIVAL. 

Catholic countries, a gala-day. Measures were taken 
accordingly, a week previous, to give to this festival 
its full effect. In front of the church is a large 
square, around the sides of which were placed poles 
and staging, forming an amphitheatre, adorned with 
rude paintings of various animals, and dressed off 
with flags and evergreens ; the area of which was to 
be the scene of a modern hull-Jiglit. The morning 
was ushered in by the firing of guns and squibs. 
The stores were closed, churches opened, bells ring- 
ing, and the population was literally emptied into the 
streets. At twelve o'clock signal rockets were fired, 
and the gates of the amphitheatre, which appeared 
to be the principal point of attraction, were thrown 
open, and a bull was led in by four Indians. Indians, 
mounted on horses, attacked him with spears, whilst 
others goaded him almost to madness with barbed 
sticks. A great noise was made with drums and 
horns, and by the acclamations of the audience, com- 
posed of ladies and gentlemen of Merida and its 
vicinity. The major part, however, of the assembly 
was composed of Indians. This portion of the fes- 
tival was continued during the day ; at the close of 
which the amphitheatre was deserted, and the neigh- 
boring houses were filled with people, abandoning 
themselves to the excitements of every variety of 
games, and to the dance. 

This was the first bull-bait I had ever witnessed, 
and the impression it left upon me I shall never for- 
get. These spectacles, however, have been so often 
and so graphically described by others, that it would 



THE PRESIDENT — CHRISTMAS EVE. 27 

be almost presumption in me to attempt a description 
of the scene, or an analysis of my own feelings. 
The performance disgusted me to a degree, and has 
struck me as one of the most extraordinary psycho- 
logical phenomena in nature, that any body of hu- 
man beings could be found to whom such exhibitions 
should be, as they are to the Spanish, sources of the 
deepest interest and excitement. 

To-day I had the pleasure of making the acquaint- 
ance of several gentlemen of the place, who gave 
me a most cordial reception ; among whom was the 
President of Yucatan. He is a successful merchant, 
a plain, unassuming, practical man ; apparently, how- 
ever, not much versed in political intrigues. The 
people have recently declared themselves indepen- 
dent of Mexico, and the government is now about 
sending commissioners to the capital of that repub- 
lic to treat with Santa Ana, offering again to return 
to the Mexican Confederacy upon certain condi- 
tions ; which, if acceded to, will give to this province 
most decided advantages, besides being still under 
the protection of the Confederacy. 

Christmas eve we passed upon the Alameda, the 
pubhc promenade of the city. The occasion brought 
together the great mass of the population. The la- 
dies were prettily dressed, with veils tastefully thrown 
over their heads ; and a beautiful moonhght evening 
was rendered still more charming by their smiles. 
The great majority were Indians. Their white, 
loose, cotton dress, bordered with colored needle- 
work, with the janty veil, carelessly worn, gives 



28 HIGH MASS — CHRISTMAS. 

them an airy appearance, and embellishes features 
that are naturally pleasant and mild. There proba- 
bly were six thousand Indians in this collection, 
mingling with the multitude, without any apparent 
distinction of rank or race, quietly indulging them- 
selves in their walks. No loud talking or noisy mer- 
riment could be heard. Every thing appeared to be 
conducted in a spirit of harmony and kind feeling. 
The temperance pledge was alike unnecessary and 
unknown. 

At twelve o'clock (midnight) the crowd dispersed ; 
a portion of them to the cathedral, to attend the per- 
formance of high mass. An immense crowd was 
assembled in this place. The aisles, domes, and fret- 
ted work of the windows were illuminated. The 
sound of music and the voice of the priest only 
were heard — all else was silence. The multitude 
knelt. It was an imposing sight — the dark ages 
were forgotten ; and the prejudices of a thousand 
years were subdued in a moment. At two o'clock I 
left the cathedral and returned to my lodgings, with 
more liberal feelings, and a better man. 

Christmas, as a holy-day, is strictly observed by 
the general suspension of business, and service is 
performed at all the churches, as in most other Cath- 
olic countries. The only exception to this uniform- 
ity perhaps consists in the devotional ceremonies 
usually offered to a cross affixed to the walls of the 
Bishop's palace, which rites concluded the religious 
offices of the day. These services were performed 



FEAST-DAY OF ST. CHRISTOVAL. 29 

by the Indians — and give but too painful evidence 
of the influence of their priesthood. 

The next day was Sunday, and concluded the 
feast of St. Christoval. The churches were crowd- 
ed, as is usual, during the morning ; but the majority 
of the multitude that attended the service consisted 
of females, mostly Indian. In the afternoon we 
proceeded towards the church of St. Christoval, for 
tne purpose of witnessing the closing scene of a fes- 
tival which is finished by a procession. Before 
reaching our destination, however, we met it, and 
took a position in a door-way, the better to observe 
it and be out of the crowd. It was headed by eight 
or ten Indians, with long brass and tin horns, mak- 
ing the most discordant sounds imaginable. Then 
followed Indian boys, drumming on hollow pieces of 
wood, squalid and dirty in their appearance, and who 
were the only ones of a like character that present- 
ed themselves to view among the immense multitude. 
Next came the priests, chanting for the saints, and 
waving the burning incense, followed by drums and 
fifes in advance of a large image of the Virgin, deck- 
ed in various colors, interspersed with tinsel orna- 
ments, surmounted with glass vases, in which a 
lighted candle or a bouquet of flowers was alter- 
nately placed. This imposing display was borne 
upon the shoulders of eight Indians, surrounded by 
priests. The rear was brought up by a company of 
soldiers with fixed bayonets ; the whole surrounded 
by an immense crowd, filling up the streets for a 
great distance. All were uncovered, and many knelt 



30 HOLY UNCTION. 

during the baitings of the procession, which were 
purposely frequent, so as to enable the people to sa- 
lute the image. This grand display occupied about 
three hours, the procession passing through the prin- 
cipal streets and back to the church, where it was 
dismissed. The whole dispersed with the utmost 
quietness ; some to their homes, and others to places 
of gaming and dancing. 

In returning to our lodgings we met a calesa, pre- 
ceded by two Indians with lanterns, tinkling small 
bells, followed by four Indian soldiers, armed with 
muskets. The carriage contained a priest, who was 
going to administer holy unction. The people, as 
is the universal custom here, knelt as he passed. 
To obviate a similar necessity, we retreated into the 
nearest house ; thereby escaping a charge of heresy, 
and the unpleasantftess of coming in contact with 
muddy streets. 

A. stranger, on his first arrival in this country, is 
at a loss where to place the Indian in the scale of 
social life. He sees him clean and well dressed, 
mingling with the whites, and without distinction. 
To have Indian blood is no reproach, and family 
groups, in many cases, show this most palpably. It 
is not unusual to hear mothers threaten to send their 
children home to their respective fathers, whenever 
their rudeness requires chiding. The Indian, how- 
ever, performs the menial labor of the country — and 
there is an appearance of apathy in his looks and 
actions, which seems to carry with it the signs of a 
broken, or at least a subdued spirit — resting upon 




^ 

^ 
^ 
"S 

3 
^ 



5!b 
-5) 



e? 



THE INDIAN — SOLDIERS' RETURN. 31 

him like a melancholy vision, a dreamy remembrance, 
of better days. For, say what we please of him, he 
is the humble descendant of a once great and pow^- 
erful people — the "children of the sun," who were 
lords of that soil on which their offspring are now 
held in humiliating vassalage. 

We were roused early this morning by the tramp 
of horses. It was a body of cavalry returning from 
a neighboring town, where they had been ordered 
for the purpose of quelling an emeute. They were 
headed by a small bloody-looking Mexican, with a pair 
of mustachios that the proudest Castilian might have 
envied. He was dressed in a blue roundabout, loose 
white trousers, and a glazed Mexican hat. His fol- 
lowers were mounted upon mules of the most jaded 
appearance, saddled and caparisoned with manilla 
matting and ropes. Each wore a shirt, trousers, and 
straw hat ; and was bare-footed, except a pair of huge 
spurs, which embellished the otherwise naked heel 
of each rider. Their usual arms were the broadsword 
and pistols, but this squadron was not well equipped ; 
and the common bayonet, with them, was frequently 
compelled to do duty for one or both of the other 
weapons. After so particular a description of these 
soldiers, it is a matter of extreme regret that the 
result of the expedition cannot be minutely stated. 
I feel entitled, however, to indulge a little pride in 
making the announcement, that they did return 
crowned wdth WTeaths of victory. 

This season of the year is the high noon of the 
holy-days, which engrosses the best part of the year, 



32 HOLY-DAYS — GAMING. 

and which formerly included two-thirds of it. Their 
number, some time since, was reduced by a bull from 
the Pope. The people testify their respect for these 
festival days (for such they are denominated) by pro- 
cessions and such amusements as are suited to their 
taste. Notwithstanding the acknowledged debasing 
effects of their sports and pastimes, which wholly 
consist of bull-baiting, cock-fighting, and gambling, 
they are not disgraced by any riotousness or drunken- 
ness. It is a singular fact, that, although the de- 
grading habit of gambling is general among all 
classes of society, male and female, drunkenness and 
its concomitant vices are unknown. The priests 
give countenance to these recreations, if they may be 
so called, both by their presence and participation. 
It is but due to the Yucatecos to say, that during 
my residence in their province, I never observed any 
cheating or quarrelling at the gaming table, nor have 
I observed others tempted by improper means to par- 
ticipate in the hazard of the gaming table, after the 
manner of people at the North. Gambling seems to 
be a passion pecuhar to the Mexican's character, which 
he indulges from motives quite independent of mer- 
cenary considerations. They usually gamble with 
cards; but of the skill or even the names of their games, 
I must plead an utter ignorance. Their interest would 
sometimes become perfectly intense, as every linea- 
ment of their countenances abundantly testified. 
Hope, fear, satisfaction, and disappointment followed 
each other in quick succession over their faces, while 
the portly priest and the flippant sefiora, who stood 



GAMING. 



33 



near, with their bets vibrating with the chances of the 
game, seemed scarcely less interested in the result 
than the more immediate parties. Had a spell of en- 
chantment been laid upon the whole group, they could 
Qot have been more completely at the mercy of the 
uncontrollable hazards of their game. All moral ac- 
countabihty seemed to disappear before its irresisti- 
ble fascinations. 




THE PLANTAIN. 



CHAPTER II. 

Descnption of Merida, Geographical and Historical — The City — Pub- 
lic Squares — The Market — Trade — Habits and Customs — Health 
— The Public Buildings — A way to get a Husband — New Year Eve 
— New Year Day — The City and Environs — A Touch of Music — 
A Country Seat — Congress of Yucatan — Franciscan Ruins — More 
Holy-days — Cock-fighting — A Drill — The Bishop at Home — The 
College — Miracles. 

Merida, the capital of Yucatan, is situated about 
the twenty-first degree of north latitude, and is ele- 
vated some twenty-five feet above the level of the 
sea. The thermometer ranges at about eighty of 
Fahrenheit, and the maximum length of the days is 
nearly thirteen hours. The city w^as built upon the 
ruins of an Indian town, which was destroyed by 
the Spaniards in their superstitious zeal, so madly 
manifested in the destruction of every thing through- 
out Mexico that was found belonging to the people 
whom they had conquered. The present popula- 
tion is calculated at twenty thousand, the majority 
of whom are Indians and half-bi*eeds. 

The city was founded in 1542. From the few 
scattered facts which have been handed down to us 
by history, we gather that, prior to the Spanish con- 
quest, there existed in Yucatan a people of an origin 
remote and unknown, who were under the subjee- 



HISTORY — MERID A. 36 

tion of rulers, with fixed principles of law and or- 
der ; had passed through the ordinary vicissitudes of 
nations, and finished their career by losing, at once, 
their liberty and their dominions. The triumphant 
forces of the Spaniards having obtained full posses- 
sion of the country, the Church came in to execute 
its part ; and their language, manners, customs, and 
religion, were disseminated by the steady and perse- 
vering arm of Catholic power and management. 
To complete the work, every thing that had a ten- 
dency to remind the vanquished of the past was 
obliterated, in accordance with the grovelling policy 
or the blind fanaticism that marked the times. An- 
cient pictorial and hieroglyphical manuscripts were 
burnt; their idols, images, and planispheres, were 
destroyed, and their temples and cities were razed 
to the ground. It is melancholy to reflect that a 
chasm has thus been made in the early history of 
the country, which the historian must despair of ever 
seeing filled up. 

Merida, since it was rebuilt, has not rendered itself 
in anywise historical. Its remote and isolated posi- 
tion has prevented its participation, to any extent, 
in the political struggles which have marked the 
history of the city of Mexico ; and the inhabitants 
appear to have availed themselves of their peace and 
political composure by a cultivation of letters, and 
general mental cultivation, to an extent certainly 
unsurpassed in any province of Mexico. ^ 

The streets of Merida are of a good width, laid 
out at r'^ht angles. The side-walks are four feet 



36 MERID A— SQUARES. 

wide, paved with rough stone. The houses are quite 
uniform in their appearance, and are built of stone. 
The mason-work is creditable. The roofs of their 
houses are flat, and their exteriors finished in stucco ; 
some of which are painted in the Moorish style, with 
balconied windows, ornamented, and presenting ra- 
ther a pretty appearance. The middle of the street 
is the lowest, forming a passage to carry off the wa- 
ter. During ordinary rains, small rivers, compara- 
tively speaking, form themselves ; flooding the streets 
to the edge of the walks, and rendering them im- 
passable for hours after the rain has ceased, with- 
out great exposure. Candles are used for hghting 
the city ; but, of course, for that purpose, are almost 
useless. 

This place contains a number of fine squares, the 
principal of which is in the centre of the city. It 
is bounded by the cathedral, bishop's palace, govern- 
ment house, and dwellings occupied by the citizens. 
In the middle of this square is a waterless fountain. 
No attention is paid to this place, which might justly 
be compared, from its deserted aspect, to the " Neu- 
tral Ground" in New Orleans ; and, like that, it is 
susceptible of being rendered a most beautiful prom- 
enade. On the side of this square is the dwelhng 
of Simon Peon, Esq. The front is ornamented with 
a relic of the times prior to the conquest. It is a 
huge door- way, elaborately carved in figures and 
lines. The city is indebted to this gentleman for 
this display of his hberality and taste, in preserving 
a very interesting memento of a people whose his- 



MARKET — HABITS. 37 

tory, probably, is destined to remain for ever sealed 
to mankind. 

The market occupies a large square, in a central 
position, having tw^o sides devoted to the sale ot 
meats, and the other two remaining open. The in- 
terior is provided with accommodations for the vend- 
ers of fruits and vegetables. The meats are of an 
indifferent quality ; they are cut up and sold by the 
butcher in long strips. Their variety of vegetables 
is limited, and but little skill is shown in their culti- 
vation. Poultry is abundant and cheap, as are also 
ihe other necessaries of life. 

There is but a very limited trade here, of any 
kind. The resources of the country are too small 
for it to be otherwise. To give some idea of the 
state of trade in the vicinity of the great public 
square, just described, it is sufficient to state that, 
in crossing it, we have disturbed the buzzard and 
killdeer at noonday. 

At three o'clock in the afternoon, there is an al- 
most total suspension of business. The stores, gen- 
erally, are closed, and the inhabitants betake them- 
selves to their hammocks, to the enjoyment of their 
favorite siesta, which consists of a nap of an hour 
or more ; an indulgence as indispensable to a Mexi- 
can as his cigar. The calesa is the only wheel-car- 
riage that is to be found in the streets. Indian por- 
ters take the place of drays, and are seen carrying 
barrels and bales upon their backs, secured by a 
plaited rope passed over their foreheads. Being 
accustomed, from childhood, to this kind of labor, 



38 HEALTH — CATHEDRAL. 

thej are enabled to take loads of extraordinary 
weight, and to convey them to a great distance 
with an ease that is really wonderful. 

The climate of Merida, though very dry, and not 
subject to great changes, is productive of febrile dis- 
eases at all seasons of the year, from which even the 
natives are not exempted. Their bilious, much re- 
sembles the yellow fever ; and, in many cases, proves 
fatal. The fever and ague is no stranger here. Pul- 
monary complaints are common, and consumption 
carries off many. This malady most frequently shows 
itself after severe attacks of the fever and ague, and 
makes a conquest of its victim in a very short 
period. 

The principal, as well as the most prominent, of 
the public buildings, are the churches. The cathe- 
dral is a structure that would attract the attention 
of the traveller in any part of the world. It was 
erected in the sixteenth century. Its architecture is 
of the ecclesiastical style of that age ; and, altoge- 
ther, it has a most commanding appearance. It has 
well-proportioned domes, pinnacles, turrets, and lofty 
windows ; and it occupies, with the palace of the 
bishop of Yucatan, one entire side of the most im- 
portant square of the city. The interior is impos- 
ing, from its numerous and splendidly decorated 
shrines. Its vaulted roof, supported by immense 
stone pillars, gives it an air of solemn grandeur pe- 
culiarly applicable to the ceremonies that are daily 
performed within its precincts. The arms of Mex- 
ico are displayed upon the exterior front of the build- 



CHURCHES — PRAYING FOR HUSBANDS. 39 

ing, which is finished with stone and stucco, with 
saints in basso-reUevo. 

The bishop's palace, adjoining, is plain. It is of 
two stories high, painted green ; and is accessible by 
a gateway opening into a court, over which are em- 
blazoned the crosier and mitre. The doors and 
windows are much, dilapidated. The title of a pal- 
ace is somewhat of a misnomer for this edifice, if one 
were to judge from its external appearance. 

There are fourteen church establishments within 
the city and its suburbs ; they, generally, are well 
built ; and many of them are remarkable for the pow- 
er and influence of their particular saints — in pop- 
ular estimation. For instance, that of St. Anne 
is one which the ladies frequent, to pray for good 
husbands. Whether the gentlemen go there to ask 
for similar blessings, I did not learn ; but I was in- 
formed through a source that it would be impolite to 
doubt, that, in many instances, the petition of the 
lonely spinster has been most favorably received. 
In this church is a large collection of bone and wax 
figures, representing the various limbs of the human 
body ; as, also, crutches, left there by invalids as of 
ferings to the tutelar saint (St. Barbe) who has favor- 
ably heard their supplications. Models of vessels are 
deposited here by those who have been preserved 
from imminent danger at sea, through, as the devo- 
tees suppose, the efficacy of their appeals and sacri- 
fices to the saint. 

We observed, on entering the church, parts of a 
human skeleton set near the vase of holy water ; put 



40 NEW YEAR'S DAY. 

there, possibly, that all might see and be reminded 
that " to this condition we must come at last !" 
Whether the priests intended that they should con- 
vey a moral, as did those in use among the ancient 
Egyptians, or placed them there for other purposes, 
could not conveniently be ascertained. Be that as 
it may, they have an imposing effect. The taste 
generally displayed in these churches is not very 
pleasing to the eye of a stranger. The images of 
our Saviour are rude figures, and what made them 
appear still worse was, that they were decorated ac- 
cording to the prevailing fashion of the country ; a 
style which was calculated to awaken any^ other than 
reverential emotions. 

New Year's eve found me on the Alameda, (the 
promenade of the city,) where I mingled with the 
multitude which had collected to enjoy the pleasant- 
ness of the evening at this, the most delightful season 
of the year in Yucatan. 

On the morning of New Year, 1842, I went early 
to the cathedral. Dense masses of Indians, princi- 
pally females, in their plain cleanly dress, tastefully 
arranged, were assembled around the different shrines 
at which the priests were officiating. When I re- 
turned to breakfast, I met my fellow-companions of 
the house at table ; but there were none of those 
outpourings of good feelings, those kind wishes of 
happiness that, in former days, were wont to meet 
me in the land of my birth. For one hearty 
greeting of " a happy New Year !" I would have 
given for the sake of " auld lang syne," most cheer- 



CITY AND SUBURBS. 41' 

fully would I have given — "a thousand returns!" 
But " New Year's," alas ! is no festival day of the 
heart in Merida. 

The day was dull throughout. After the services 
of the church were finished, about nine o'clock, the 
streets were quite deserted. I then visited the In- 
dians in the suburbs. Their simple huts were com- 
fortable, so far as mud and stone could make them, 
and tolerably clean. Their furniture is composed of 
nothing more than a few earthen vessels, calabashes, 
and hammocks swung across the room. The walls 
of some of them were ornamented with rude wood- 
en crosses ; and, occasionally, pictures of saints in 
tin frames. 

The environs of the city present but few pleasant 
walks. In fact they are not required, for the inhabi- 
tants have not a taste for pedestrian exercises, and 
scarcely ever walk when they can enjoy any less 
fatiguing mode of locomotion. The practice of 
riding in the calesa is almost universal. The ladies, 
especially, are extremely partial to it ; and having an 
uncouth gait, they thus appear to the best possible 
advantage. Thus mounted and armed with their fan, 
(that indispensable appendage to a Mexican lady,) 
they go forth fully equipped with fascinations, con- 
quering and to conquer. Their rides are wholly 
confined to the streets, as the scenery in the vicinity 
of Merida offers few inducements to the equestrian, 
while the roads constitute a special annoyance. As 
to the cultivation of the soil, nature has been left 
to perform the whole task, almost entirely unaided 



42 CONCERT. 

either by art or industry. Surely, thrift is not in- 
digenous to this country. The tropical trees and 
plants put forth their blossoms, and the rich perfumes 
fill the air with their balmy sweets. But there is a 
chilhng contrast between the loveliness of vegeta- 
ble nature about me, and the condition of man, to 
whose care it is intrusted. We never have admired 
the one without wishing that we had the power to 
exalt the other to a position equally worthy of the 
hand that made it. 

We reached our lodgings in season to hear a Mexi- 
can disquisition on cock-fighting, before the com- 
mencement of a "grand concert," that was to take 
place in the evening, and to which we had been fa- 
vored with an invitation. The elitt of the city were 
to be present, and no small gratification was antici- 
pated. It took place in a long hall kept for this and 
other public purposes. The music was instrumen- 
tal — and the performers consisted principally of 
amateurs. It was a matter of surprise and disap- 
pointment to find that only seventeen ladies and ten 
gentlemen constituted the audience. It was odd to 
us, to see the fairer part of the assembly set apart from 
the gentlemen ; an arrangement which, if we are not 
deceived, gave no more satisfaction to the ladies than 
to the gentlemen. The former were quite pretty, 
and their dress exceedingly neat; the arrangements 
of the head in particular exhibited very good 
taste. 

On the following day I made a visit to a gentle- 
man's country place, situated about two miles from 



COUNTRY-SEAT. 43 

the city. It was a beautiful morning. Under the 
smiles of a rising sun and a cloudless sky nature 
appeared to be embellished in all her charms. After 
a very agreeable walk I arrived at the house ; but 
was disappointed in finding the owner at home. 
A few Indians were hanging listlessly about the 
premises, under the charge of a major domo, whose 
situation was manifestly quite a sinecure. The man- 
sion was of two stories with piazzas, large, and well 
built of stone ; but had nothing very peculiar in its 
construction. The grounds about it were neatly and 
tastefully arranged. The division alleys of the gar- 
den were laid with stone, covered with composition, 
ornamentally disposed, and answering the two-fold 
purpose of a walk and a gutter to conduct the water 
to the parts where it was required. The orange, the 
cocoa, the plantain, and the wide-spread banana, were 
lOaded with fruit. Clusters of smaller tropical shrub- 
bery, and myriads of flowers, were in perfection. 
The enclosures teemed with vegetation, growing in 
unrestricted luxuriance. This vegetation is only sus- 
tained by the aid of irrigation. The water is sup- 
plied from immense wells and cisterns, which are 
opened in large numbers for that purpose. This 
practice was originally introduced into Spain by the 
Moors, who thus changed quite barren wastes into 
productive gardens. Even the courses of rivers were 
sometimes diverted to effect this important object. 
Many of the provmces of the parent country, al- 
though since suff*ered by neglect to revert to their 
former uselessness, bear evidence of the important 



44 CONGRESS. 

benefits that resulted from the system. The con- 
querors of Mexico were aware of its advantages, of 
which they availed themselves extensively in their 
agricultural pursuits. These reservoirs are frequent- 
ly made through a calcareous formation, to the depth 
of a hundred feet, and are supplied with water both 
from fountains and from the rains of summer. Broad 
curbs of stone and mortar are formed around them, 
from eight to ten feet high, which are used as plat- 
forms for drawing up the water by means of revolv- 
ing buckets, turned by a spindle, and emptying, in 
their evolutions, into conductors leadins; to reservoirs 
located near the place where it may afterwards be 
wanted. Ascending to the balcony of the building, 
I had a partial view of the city, embosomed among 
trees, with its domes and turrets peering above their 
tops. After acknowledging the hospitality with 
which I had been received, I made my adieus, and 
returned at an early hour to the city. 

The Congress of Yucatan is now in session. It 
is held in two rooms, connected with each other by 
double doors. These rooms are neatly and plainly 
fitted up for the purpose, having a small gallery or 
platform at the sides, for the accommodation of spec- 
tators. These apartments comprise a portion of a 
convent once belonging to the Jesuits, who formerly 
exercised a powerful sway in this province. In 1825 
their property was confiscated to the government; 
when this and other orders of monasteries and nun- 
neries were dissolved by the prevailing voice of the 
people. Small remains now only exist of this once 



FRANCISCAN RUINS. 45 

potent and dreaded class. The whole building, with 
the exception of the part mentioned, and the church, 
is in a ruinous condition, with broken walls and rag- 
ged casements. Birds of prey, fluttering about and 
resting upon the trees that overtop the seat of this 
once proud, but now fallen society, present a lesson 
that others of a similar cast might profit by ; yet now, 
in the nineteenth century, there are those living in 
Mexico, who not only strenuously advocate the main- 
tenance of the order of Loyola, but are exerting 
their influence to have it reinstated to all its pris- 
tine wealth, power, and ancient privileges. To re- 
vert to the business before Congress — the houses 
were discussing the propriety of appointing commis- 
sioners to Vera Cruz, for the purpose of arranging for 
a secession from the great plan of independence that 
had been proclaimed, and again to return "to their first 
love," under the control of the Mexican confederacy.. 
The members were good-looking, well dressed, and 
of gentlemanly behavior — and the system of duel- 
ling and bullying practised so extensively in many of 
our own legislative assemblies, is unknown to the un- 
sophisticated individuals who constitute this body. 
They probably have not arrived to that state of civ- 
ilization, which requires such physical agencies to 
illustrate and to enforce their arguments. 

A temptation to visit the most extensive of the 
modern ruins of this province could not.be resisted. 
The Monastery of St. Francisco, which is situated 
nearly in the centre of Merida, was erected upon a 
mound or foundation that, probably, was the former 



46 FRANCISCAN RUINS. 

site of some important structure belonging to the 
original inhabitants of the place, which fell under 
the destroying hand of the conqueror. The caciques 
and their people were driven out, or perished bj the 
ruthless sword ; and the church, following fast upon 
their footsteps, divided the spoils. Where are they 
now ? The vanquished and the vanquisher are num- 
bered with the things that were ! and we now stand 
upon the dilapidated memorial that indistinctly marks 
the greatness of the one, and the downfall of the 
other. 

This monastery was founded in 1520, without 
being completed until 1600. It was constructed of 
walls, after the plan of a fortification, to ward off the 
attacks of the Indians, who made sudden and fre- 
quent attempts to regain their dominions and to an- 
noy their enemies. It occupies about five acres of 
ground, enclosed by walls forty feet high and eight 
thick, with walks upon the top. The material is of 
hard stone, but composed of small pieces, imbedded 
in a firm mass by the means of mortar. This vast 
pile, at one time, contained upwards of two thousand 
friars. Popular opinion drove them out in the polit- 
ical changes of 1825. Only few of the order remain 
in Yucatan, and they are supported by the church. 

The entrance to these ruins is through a huge 
doorway into a room which was evidently used for 
persons in waiting for egress, when great caution 
was requisite in opening the gates, for fear of being 
surprised by the lurking foe. The arched ceiling of 
the room is painted with flying ecclesiastical figures, 



FRANCISCAN RUINS. 47 

and the apartment is now used as a stable. From 
thence the entrance leads to a large square, the sides 
of which were once occupied by churches, corridors, 
and rooms. Passing through these, over the fallen 
ruins covered with a rank vegetation, by long halls, 
we come to a room that might have been a place of 
devotion, judging from the unusual care exhibited 
in the architecture of the walls, which now, how- 
ever, was more or less broken and defaced. Two 
trap-doors were in the centre, through which is a 
descent, by stone steps, to an apartment twelve by 
eighteen feet, and six feet high. This room con- 
tained piles of human bones, having been a recepta- 
cle for those who died of the cholera. This ceM had 
passages connected with it, but they were so choked 
up with rubbish that they could not be penetrated. 
After clambering over broken walls, we reached a 
second floor, containing halls and rooms that had been 
used for libraries and lodgings, as I inferred from the 
words placed over the doors. In proceeding along 
the halls, or entering the deserted rooms, the hollow 
sound of the intruder's footstep drives the frightened 
bat from his resting-place, and the lizard to his hole. 
The descent here leads through a succession of 
rooms and cells, under ground, from whence we left 
the buildings and passed on through the rank grass 
surrounding them to a portion of the area, which 
was formerly cultivated as a garden. The stone 
walk could yet be seen, and the taste and skill of 
the designer were perceptible. Fruit-trees still re- 



48 HOLY-DAY OF THE EPIPHANY. 

main, as also wells and reservoirs for bathing and 
fishing. 

On returning to the gateway, and ascending the 
front or principal wall, the highest summit of one 
of the pinnacles is attained by a ladder of ropes; 
from which one may obtain a bird's-eye view of the 
city and surrounding country, as also of the immense 
pile of ruins around him. In front of the interior 
space are two churches, in a tolerable state of pre- 
servation, built in the old Spanish style of pinnacled 
roof and arches. On the left, ruins of an immense 
hall are seen, with its large broken arch, leaving the 
whole interior, with its painted ceilings, exposed to 
view. Farther on are crumbling bastions and thick 
walls, falling, covered with ivy and other vegetation. 
Squares are filled up with masses of rubbish, and over- 
grown with trees. Symbols of the cross were scat- 
tered about, bearing evidence of the class of people 
thatliad last been its rulers. On the right, you look 
down into the deep recesses where, but a moment 
since, you might have stumbled over the emblems of 
a once haughty and potent priesthood. All now 
is silent. No life is stirring, save the ominous 
buzzard fluttering over the tottering pinnacles, or 
perched upon the blackened and decaying walls, 
finishing this picture of desolation. 

The 6th of January is the holy-day of the Epiph- 
any. At four o'clock in the morning the streets were 
completely thronged, principally with females. In 
the cathedral, at this early hour, it was quite dark. 
The prevailing gloom was rendered more palpable by 



COCK-FIGHT. 49 

the distant appearance of lighted candles. The 
priests were administering the sacrament, with crowds 
of women surrounding them. The long aisles of the 
church were filled with kneeling devotees. As the 
sun rose, and threw his bright beams in at the win- 
dows, the scene became imposing. A vast multitude 
of females were offering up their orisons at the same 
moment ; and, if the mind of the spectator could be 
divested of the prejudice that it was not merely the 
performance of a superstitious rite, but a direct and 
sincere appeal to the Giver of all good gifts, the sight 
indeed, had been most cheering to the eye, mos< 
gratifying to the heart. 

Early on the morningof the following day (Sunday) 
r visited the churches. They were filled, as usual 
with the fairer part of creation. In walking through 
the streets, after breakfast, great preparations were 
observed to be making for a cock-fight, which was to 
take place at twelve o'clock. This, next to a bull- 
bait, is one of the most exciting scenes that can pre- 
sent itself to a Mexican populace. The gentlemen 
keepers were already wending their way to the pits, 
which are always kept in readiness for such amuse- 
ments. The patricians of the city, the heads of the 
government, officers of the army, scions of the church, 
citizens, and the poor Indian, were all present, mixed 
up, helter-skelter; and bets, from six and a quartei 
cents to three hundred dollars, were freely offered 
and as readily accepted. There was much excite- 
ment, but no quarrelling or harsh words. The cock 
of the Secretary of War was beaten. 

4 



60 SOLDIERS— THE BISHOP. 

The latter part of the day was spent on the Square, 
where there were about three hundred Yucatan sol- 
diers collected for drill. They were dressed in a shirt 
and short trousers, with the former article upon the out- 
side, and a broad-brimmed palm-leaf sombrero. Their 
military equipments were in good keeping. They 
were officered principally by boys, who had receivcvl 
nothing more than a common school education, wore 
jacket and trousers, and used canes as substitutes for 
swords. During the drill a slight shower commenced, 
which dampened the martial propensities of our he- 
roes with marvellous rapidity. Whatever might have 
been their preferences to a fight, they certainly pre 
ferred to drill another day. 

I embraced an opportunity, which was now offer- 
ed me, of visiting the bishop at his palace. Enter- 
ing a large doorway in the centre of the court-yard, 
and ascending a flight of stone steps to a range of 
corridors, I was met by a servant, who conducted 
ue into an ante-room. My name was taken in ; 
and, in a few seconds, I was received by the bishop, 
in an adjoining room, with a most cordial welcome. 
He has a fine head. His person is tall, rather ro- 
bust, and looked the bishop to the fife. He was clad 
in a blue silk gown, and a cap of the same material, 
resting upon the crown of his head ; and embellished 
with a massy gold chain around his neck, appended 
to which was a cross. He conversed respecting cit- 
izens and residents of the United States with whom 
he was acquainted, either personally or by reputa- 
tion ; and spoke of the shipwreck of our national 



THE COLLEGE. 51 

vessel, the schooner Porpoise, on board of which he 
was a passenger, while on her way to Vera Cruz. 
He expressed himself in the highest terms of com- 
mendation of the officers, and gave a glowing ac- 
count of the perilous voyage. He showed his library 
with a great poUteness, and a becoming pride ; but 
it struck me as being quite limited for one in his posi- 
tion. He expressed himself liberally ; and no doubt, 
as his countenance and actions indicated, he is a 
right worthy man. 

His rooms were fitted up more with an eye to the 
useful, than to any apparent desire for display. The 
ceiling was ornamented with lithographs of battles, 
interspersed with patterns of French fire-boards. 
Previous to taking leave, he very kindly offered all 
the aid in his power for facilitating my visit to the 
towns in the interior. For this, as for other civili- 
ties, I shall probably never have an opportunity of 
testifying to him the full extent of my gratitude. 

He passed with us through his house to the door 
of the college, adjoining, when he left us in charge 
of the rector, with instructions to conduct us through 
the building. The institution is called " Minerva." 
The first room entered was the library, which was 
small and badly arranged. It was comprised of 
works principally relating to the church. It con- 
tains a portrait of the founder of the college, a build- 
ing which was completed in 1775. It is supported 
by certain taxes paid by each curate in the province. 
These having been cut off, in a great degree, by the 
recent changes in the government, seriously affect 



52 THE CHURCHES — MIRACLES. 

the institution, which, at this time, is quit^ limited in 
its means. Though the pay of the president and 
professors is small, and the contingent expenses are 
light, it is apprehended that it cannot long be con- 
tinued. Its studies do not go beyond the high 
schools in the United States. We hastily glanced 
at this building, and then entered the cathedral with 
our attentive friend, who took especial pains to point 
out every thing worthy of particular notice. Upon 
a close examination of the altars and shrines, it was 
plainly to be discovered that the church was poor. 
The time is gone by in which churches are made the 
depositories of the precious metals, formerly a source 
of so much wealth to them. 

One of the shrines contains a wooden image of our 
Saviour, to which attention was called by one of the 
priests that accompanied us through the church. He 
stated to us with much gravity, that it was preserved 
harmless from a gi^at fire by a miracle, and that it is 
now looked upon as a most sacred relic. A room 
was shown us containing portraits of all the bishops 
of Yucatan. They were badly executed. One of 
them was pointed out as having been a great eater ; 
he would devour a whole turkey at his dinner, and 
say, " it was a fine chicken." Another was shown 
who had performed the miracle of changing sour ap- 
ples to sweet, a function which has given its propri- 
etor's name to a species of apple, which is retained 
to this day. 



CHAPTER III. 

Mechanical , ui its — The Circulating Medium — A Ball — 'A Rem- 
nant of Franciscans — Signs of Decay in the Suburbs — The Cemetery 

— The "Weather — A Whole Congregation Flogged — The Wise Men 

— The Gentlemen — Extra Civilities — The Appearances of Trade — 
Products of the Soil — Education — Language of the Indians — The 
Ancient People — Waldeck's Opinion of them — The Maya Lan- 
guage — The Lord's Prayer in Maya — Grammars of that Dialect — 
Difficulties in Speaking it — Traits of the Indian Character. 

Having resolved to visit the towns in the interior, 
1 w^as under the necessity of making some prepara- 
tions which brought me in contact with the mechan- 
ics of Merida. It being customary and even neces- 
sary to travel chiefly upon the backs of horses and 
mules, the saddler and the tailor were first called into 
requisition. These professions were principally fill- 
ed by Indians and half-breeds, who, though clumsy 
in their business, were far more expert than might 
have been expected. The custom of the country 
invariably exacts the payment of one-half of the 
amount agreed upon in advance, in order that the 
contractor may be in funds to purchase stock, where- 
with to fill his contract. Though their delays are 
very annoying, yet they are generally honest, and may 
be depended upon for ultimately fulfilling their en- 
gagements. 



54 MEN MANTUA-MAKERS — CURRENCY. 

The wants of the people are so limited that few 
mechanics are necessary. Nature is kind and lavish. 
The articles necessary to cover and protect the bo- 
dy are not numerous, and every thing requisite for 
its nourishment abounds. It looks very odd, I had 
almost said humihating, to see men sitting upon the 
public sidewalks, working upon a lady's dress, and 
similar articles hanging around the door-ways of their 
houses, as a sign of the services which they hold 
themselves competent and ready to render. Manu- 
factories are nowhere to be seen ; the clatter of the 
loom or the noise of the hammer never disturbs the 
quiet of Merida. 

Some idea of the wealth or poverty of a country 
may be formed from an acquaintance with its cur- 
rency. Silver is the basis of the circulation of Yu- 
catan, of which the Spanish sixpence is the smallest. 
A fractional sort of change, however, is represented 
by the seeds of the cacao, two hundred and fifty 
grains of which are considered equal to sixpence. 
Of these, five grains constitute the smallest amount 
ever received in trade. In some of the provinces 
of the Mexican confederacy, pieces of soap pass as 
a circulating medium, and lose none of their esti- 
mated value for a few washings, provided the bal- 
ance of exchange should not be such as to carry it 
out of the district where it is known. The great 
scarcity of money tends to reduce every thing else 
in an equal ratio. Servants' wages are from three 
to five dollars a month, and those of mechanics are 
at a proportionate rate. Rents are almost a nomi- 



MANNER OF EOu y BUSINESS — BALL. 55 

nal charge. This is partially produced by the num- 
ber of untenanted buildings that are decaying with- 
out occupants. 

The manner of doing business is simple. Nothing 
of that stir and bustle is seen that is to be observed 
in cities and towns of the United States ; nor do you 
find the care-worn and anxious look that is so often 
to be noticed with us. Speculation, kite-flying, lame 
ducks, bulls and bears, and all those curses with which 
large mercantile communities are usually visited, are 
entirely unknown in the province of Yucatan. 

During my stay in the city of Merida, a ball was 
given at the Governor's house, apropos of some po- 
litical event, which I did not esteem of moment 
enough to remember. As usual upon such occasions, 
there were grand preparations. The man-milliners 
were busily engaged upon female fmery — and their 
shop-boards were decorated with the most unlimited 
gayety. Every door-way along the principal streets, 
throughout the day, was filled with ladies seated 
upon stools, (their favorite posture,) working fancy 
articles, in anticipation of the approaching festival. 
But their dresses gaping behind, and hanging loose- 
ly upon their shoulders, and their slip-shod feet, made 
them appear exceedingly slovenly at home, and 
awakened in me a strong desire to see them in full 
toilet at the ball in the evenin^^. 

On entering the hall, I passed through a dense line 
of ladies arranged aloij^g the corridors, principally 
mammas, and wall-fiowering spinsters garlanding the 
corridors. The dancing had already commenced. 



56 THE BALL. 

At first si2;ht, the display was dazzling ; but after the 
lapse of a few minutes, the fascination dissipated. 
The absence of ail conversation, even of small-talk, 
which upon such occasions is a relief, rendered even 
the ball-room, like all their other domestic institutions' 
here, exceedingly monotonous and dull. During the 
dance, not a lip is seen to move — like Marryat's 
wench, they refuse to talk, because they came here 
to dance ! At the conclusion of a cotillon, the la- 
dies took seats separate from the gentlemen. They 
dressed here in very good taste ; though a partiality 
for brilliant colors was rather too conspicuously 
displayed for a Northern eye. There was no ex- 
travagant display of jewellery or rich brocades, in 
which particular I may be pardoned for commending 
their example to my own fair countrywomen. There 
were many pretty faces, that only required expres- 
sion to render them charming. The skill of the 
man-milliner, however, deserves full credit. I will 
add, for the benefit of my bachelor friends, that there 
were in attendance about twelve ladies to one gen- 
tleman. This disproportionate abundance of females 
is common in warm climates, and constitutes, I be- 
lieve, one of Bishop Warburton's arguments in de- 
fence of polygamy in Asia. The ladies in the cor 
ridors were silently enjoying their cigars during the 
whole evening, and only relieving the monotony ot 
their occupation, by carryiut; on a telegraphic cor 
respondence with some of their neighbors by the aio 
of their fans. 

The ball, as I have already remarked, was given 



MONASTERY — A MONK. 57 

at the Governor's house, which occupies a portion 
of the great square. The room was about fifty feet 
long by fifteen wide. The floor was of mortar ; the 
ceihngs high and roughly finished. The walls were 
ornamented with framed engravings, uid the windows 
hung with white cotton curtains. A fine supper was 
provided ; but I left the ball at an early hour, and 
jostled my way to my lodgings through an immense 
crowd of Indians, of both sexes, attracted by the fes- 
tivities which I was just leaving. 

Within the precincts of Merida, there is a regular 
monastery sustained by about twelve monks. In my 
rambles I passed the door of one of the friars, who 
invited me to walk in. He was a middle-aged man, 
clad in the usual garb of his order ; a loose dress, and 
sandals tied about his ankles with cords. His hair 
was cut rounding ; giving it the air of a Scotch bon- 
net resting lightly upon the top of his head. He was 
not only very polite, but a very learned man. In 
spite of my sterner judgment, I could not but sympa- 
thize with him, as he dilated upon the historical re- 
collections of the old and notorious order to which 
he had attached himself in his youthful days. As he 
spoke of it in its glory, his enthusiasm broke forth 
with an almost inspired eloquence. 

His room was large and airy, and appeared to 
have been arranged for a study. It was furnished 
with two chairs and a table. A few Spanish and 
Latin works were lying around. He conducted us 
through the long halls and corridors of the monastery, 
and described to us the various paintings that covered 



58 THE CHURCH — SUBURBS. 

the walls. They were principally representations of 
his tutelar saint, in the different periods of his event- 
ful life, from his birth to his death ; also, of the cruci- 
fixion of our Saviour. At a distance they might re- 
semble pictures ; but, on approaching them, the charm 
fled. They proved to be most execrable daubs. 

The church attached to the monastery is well 
worth a visit. It has an immense shrine, formed by 
a group of figures in alto-relievo, large as life, repre- 
senting saints and angels, and all profusely ornament- 
ed with gold and silver. One of the chapters of the 
church contains a representation of the cruci^xion 
carved upon stone, beautiful, both for its design and 
its execution. It was found by the Spaniards on the 
island of Cozumal, the place where Cortes first land- 
ed, and has caused much speculation as to its origin. 
On returning to the room of our worthy guide, choco- 
late was served ; and a conversation for an hour en- 
sued upon the condition of the clergy of the United 
States, which arose from an inquiry into the number 
and denomination of our monasteries! I left him 
alone within his cheerless walls, and wended my way 
back to my home ; each of us, no doubt, preferring 
his own situation to the other's. I can at least speak 
authentically as to one. 

I continued my rambles in the suburbs on the fol- 
lowing day. Here, dilapidation and ruin, and the 
want of cultivation, are too palpable. Churches 
built centuries ago, and now surrounded only by a 
few poor Indian huts, form a sad but instructive com- 
mentary upon the insufficiency of arbitrary power, 



THE CEMETERY— PRIEST. 69 

under the control of a religious hierarchy, to develope 
the intellectual or the physical resources of a people. 
Decay and desolation have overtaken all those insti- 
tutions of an elder time, which now but serve, like 
the footsteps upon the shore of a deserted island, to 
prove the former presence of a more vigorous civili- 
zation. The hand of man has rarely interfered to 
protect these solemn memorials from oblivion. The 
grounds around them are but little cultivated, and 
are mostly covered by a thick growth of furze, with 
an occasional cocoa, orange, or tamarind tree. Here, 
however, the ramon grows to a great height, and is 
very valuable, its leaves and branches affording a 
nutricious food for horses. 

About two miles from the city is a cemetery, ap- 
propriated to the dead of Merida. It is located in a 
beautiful situation ; but, like most other public places 
in this country, it has been utterly neglected. It com- 
prehends about half an acre of land, surrounded by 
a high wall; and is under the charge of a Catholic 
priest, who resides upon the premises. Those who 
can afford it are provided with vaults, built upon the 
surface of the ground. The poor are interred be- 
neath the soil. The priest in charge does not seem 
to have permitted his solemn vicinage to disturb his 
digestion or dampen his spirits. His sleek and port- 
ly appearance reminded me, at once, of the "fat, 
round, oily little man of God," whose repose Thom- 
so 1 disturbs in his Castle of Indolence. He w-as 
I'i.id and attentive in showing the premises; but his 



60 CLIMATE — CHURCH-FLOGGING. 

conversation was very feeble, and indicated a mind 
almost demented with superstition. 

The thermometer now, though the middle of 
January, ranges at about eighty. We have occa- 
sional showers, but the weather continues to be de- 
lightful. The mornings and evenings are perfectly 
enchanting. The climate is not so uniform as that 
of Cuba ; rains are more frequent, and the dews more 
abundant. Colds and influenzas are common ; and 
on this account it cannot, I think, be recomm=.nded 
to invalids with pulmonary affections. 

Connected with one of the monasteries of the 
Jesuits, is the Church of Jesus. It has partially 
lost its ancient splendor by the removal of valu- 
able plate and embellishments, which formerly be- 
longed to it ; and I should not detain my readers 
with a notice of it here, but for a most singular reh- 
gious ceremony which I was permitted to witness 
within its walls during vespers. The congregation 
was composed principally of Indians. After the 
usual ceremonies were concluded, a large Indian 
prostrated himself upon the floor before the altar, 
carefully adjusted his limbs, and laid himcelf out as 
if he were preparing for burial. Men, with coils of 
rope about their heads, representing crowns of thorns, 
dressed in loose garments, and bending under the 
weight of a heavy cross, then entered and tottered 
up the aisles. A cross and scull were then passed 
around ; the bearer repeating in Latin, as they were 
handed to be kissed, " This is the death, and this 
is the judgment !" When this form had been con- 



LEARNED MEN. 61 

eluded, we were all supplied with whips, (I de- 
clined to avail myself of their politeness,) the lights 
were extinguished, and all was darkness. Nothing 
was visible but the gigantic windows, and the out- 
lines of the stupendous arches and fretted walls 
above us. The chamber of death was never more 
silent than was that church for the moment. While 
I was speculating upon what would probably occur 
next in the order of exercises, my meditations were 
suddenly interrupted by the sounds of stripes rising 
and echoing through every part of the vast edifice. 
That there was whipping going on, I had no doubt ; 
but whether each one did his own whipping, or had 
t done by his neighbors, I was, for some time, un- 
able to satisfy myself; but I soon discovered that the 
former was the case, upon the presumption, doubt- 
less, that each one knew how much his case requir 
ed better than any one else. This penitential cere 
mony continued for the space of fifteen minutes, at 
least, without intermission. When it ceased, which 
was at the tinkling of a bell, the candles were relight- 
ed, and the assemblage slowly left the church, appa- 
rently perfectly satisfied that they had received no 
more than they deserved. 

I hrd the gratification of visiting a number of the 
learned men of Merida, or " sabios," as they are de- 
nominatP 1 by some travellers. In Yucatan, this title 
is not inappropriate. They are celebrated here, and 
very justly; for they are tolerably well informed; 
therein, having greatly the advantage of the mass of 
their fellow-citizens. They seem to be a chosen 



62 THE OWNER OF UXMAL. 

band, living and moving in a distinct body within 
their own circle ; hke Rosicrucians, having no kin- 
dred spirits to whom they can attach themselves, or 
from whom they can increase their numbers. Thus, 
in the course of ordinary events, as their days ap- 
proach to threescore and ten, their order must be- 
come gradually extinguished. One of them, to whom 
I paid frequent visits, v as already upwards of ninety 
years of age, and one of the most interesting old men 
I have ever beheld. He seemed happy to sec me ; 
was fond of speaking of his youthful days ; gave i.j 
account of his early studies and recreations ; and, 
withal, a goodly portion of fatherly advice and ad- 
monition. His mind appeared to be vigorous ; too 
much so, indeed, for the feeble state of his body. 
He was pleased to answer questions ; and, when ad- 
verting to the state of the country, spoke with much 
feeling, but despairingly, of every thing connected 
with it. 

I had the pleasure of meeting, to-day, with the 
gentlemanly owner of the estate upon which are the 
celebrated ruins of Uxmal. He was intelligent and 
communicative, and had travelled in the United 
States. He traced back, as far as practicable, the 
title-deeds of his forefathers to this land, in order, if 
possible, to gain some clew to its early history ; but 
it led to nothing that could be made available to the 
traveller. He expresses great confidence in Mr. Ste- 
phens, who is now investigating these ruins, and to 
whom he had rendered every facility for the prose- 
cution of his task. I asked him what he would take 



SOCIAL CONDITION OF FEMALES. 63 

for the land upon which those ruins were situated; 
and he readily replied, five thousand dollars. I de- 
clined to embark in a speculation in these lands, but 
did not hesitate to avail myself of the letters with 
which he was so kind as to favor me to the major- 
domos of his several estates ; for which I beg leave 
here to express my most sincere thanks. 

The social condition of the female sex in Yucatan, 
so far as my observation extends, compares very fa- 
vorably with that of females of the same rank in the 
other provinces of Mexico. The Yucatecos ladies 
generally attend to their household affairs, and to the 
education of their children ; but though their habits 
are rather domestic, the standard of virtue is not to 
be estimated as high as in the United States. Their 
personal attractions are quite inconsiderable. In the 
absence of animation and inteUigence, nothing is left 
to fascinate or to be loved. The brunette complexion, 
regular features, black hair, and eyes of the same 
color, predominate. They dress in the Spanish fash- 
ion — bright colors are generally preferred — with a 
light veil thrown over their heads, and a profusion 
of jewellery and other ornaments carefully arranged 
about their persons. They seldom walk out, ex- 
cept to church, where they appear to more advan- 
tage than at any other place. At their houses, 
their carelessness of dress amounts to slovenhness. 
They may be seen at almost any hour of the day, 
swinging in their hammocks, with cigars in their 
mouths, or making their toilet in the doorway of 
their dweUings. It is a general custom here for 



64 EDUCATION. 

the ladies to sleep in this suspended apparatus. 
Those who are accustomed to the luxury of a bed- 
stead, are not easily reconciled to this arrangement; 
and I have in vain tried to discover a sufficient rea- 
son for the prevalence of these articles, to the exclu- 
sion of the bedstead. 

The gambling propensities of the ladies are as 
strong as those of the gentlemen ; which, however, 
they do not indulge in to so great an extent. They 
mingle at the public tables, but good order and deco- 
rum always prevail. 

A stranger is particularly struck with the apathy 
of the wife in her household affairs. She is seldom 
seen in conversation with her husband. Being poor- 
ly educated, she has no literary resources whatever. 
She is rarely seen with a book in her hand. The 
common topics of her household form the only points 
of intellectual contact between herself and her hus- 
band. Sleep is her chief resource ; and, in the swing 
of the bammock, many of her best hours are lost in 
forgetfulness. Music, I found to my great surprise, 
was but little cultivated. 

Considerable attention is paid to the education of 
children ; but it is not deemed necessary, by parents, 
for them to proceed much beyond the first rudiments. 
The public school system is adopted, and kept up 
with some degree of ability, by the government and 
corporations. The towns are divided off into districts 
throughout the state, in which are two colleges and 
fifty-seven schools ; besides others of select tuition, 
in which the elements of an ordinary education are 



MALES — ELECTIVE FRANCHISE. 65 

taught, together with the doctrines of the Romish 
church. 

The impressions which I have received of the 
male population are as yet necessarily undefined, and 
would not perhaps warrant me in attempting to char- 
acterize them ; but, so far as my knowledge extends, 
I am inclined to think them a proud, though not a 
supercilious people. It is that Castilian sort of pride 
which is identified with the old Spanish character; 
and which has descended from him as naturally to 
the Mexican as his siesta. This gives them, even in 
their ignorance, some character. While they have 
this pride about them, we may be sure they will not 
degenerate into Caffres. Though they have de- 
clared their independence of Mexico, and have prom- 
ised to the world to prove themselves worthy of en- 
joying entire political liberty, yet it is very evident 
to a stranger, that a majority of the population are 
perfectly indifferent whether they return or remain 
under their present rulers. This apathy in political 
matters indicates a condition of the national min(^, 
which is likely to be but little affected by the form 
of government under which it exists. Their consti- 
tution much resembles that of the United States. 
They have a President, Vice President, and two 
houses of le •islators. The elective franchise extends 
to all, not excepting either the Indians or the blacks. 
The latter class is principally composed of runaway 
slaves from the neighborinio; islands. Their number, 
however, is small. All religions are tolerated ; but 
that of the Catholic \s protected! 

5 



66 CUSTOMS— COMMERCE. 

In their private dwellings very little or no taste 
IS displayed. Their furniture, generally, is plain. 
They are not very choice or select in the ornaments 
for their rooms, French lithographs in frames, such 
as are usually hung about in our bar-rooms and bar- 
bers' shops, being almost universal. 

The people throughout Yucatan are exceedingly 
polite to strangers. It would be well for foreigners, 
however, to know that when, on presenting letters 
of introduction to the Yucatecos, they tender you all 
their earthly possessions, together with their personal 
services into the bargain ; it would be wise to get 
accustomed as soon as possible to the habit of being 
satisfied with their individual attentions, without ex- 
pecting an immediate transfer of the title-deeds of 
their estates. This would save much disappointment, 
as many of their civilities are empty ceremonies, of- 
fered only in conformity with their national customs. 

Commercial transactions are limited to the supply 
of retail dealers in the city and country. The prin- 
cipal articles of trade are dry goods, imported from 
England and France, by the way of the Balize and 
Havana. The exportation of the products of the 
country is conducted through the same channel ; 
but owing to the poverty of the soil, and the supine- 
ness of the people, it is likewise very circumscribed. 
On the whole, so far as my personal observation has 
yet extended, the land presents a barrenness of ap- 
pearance which offers few of those inducements that 
have been held out for emigration, either to the 'hus- 
bandman or the mechanic. 



PRODUCTS — ORIGINAL INHABITANTS. 67 

The agricultural products of Yucatan are numerous. 
Corn, resembling that of New England, which consti- 
tutes one of the principal articles of food, and from 
which tortillas "re prepared, is raised here in great 
abundance. Also black beans, so well known to trav- 
ellers by t.ie name oi frejoles, constitute an agricultu- 
ral staple of the country. Heniken is cultivated, and 
prepared for exportation, to a considerable extent. 
It is known in the United States as " Sisal hemp," 
and takes its name from the port whence it is ship- 
ped. It is indigenous, and grows upon a rocky and 
apparently barren soil, to the height of about twelve 
feet, from a short rough trunk. It is cut at a certain 
period, and the fibres drawn out and dried, after 
which it is prepared and put up for the market. Su- 
gar and cotton are raised in some of the eastern dis- 
tricts ; but very little attention is paid to their culti- 
I'ation bevond the small demand for the home con- 
mmption. Hats, from the leaf of the palm, are 
manufactured in the interior in large quantities for 
exportation, and are shipped at Campeachy. They 
ire known in car market as the " Campeachy hat." 

There has been much speculation, to little purpose, 
respecting the original inhabitants of Yucatan. It 
is a subject so involved in doubt, that any satisfac- 
tory conclusions can scarcely be expected. Wal- 
deck* is of opinion that it was settled by different 



* For the use of a French copy of " Waldeck's Yucatan," I am in- 
debted to my distingi'dsht '. c jiintryman, Mr. Stephens, for which, and 
for many other civilities, I embrace this opportunity to make my sm- 
cere acknowiodgTnents. 



68 CONJECTURES — LORD'S PRAYER IN MAYA. 

nations, broken off from Tobasco and otiier states, 
who particularly used the Maya idiom. He gives 
further evidence of this fact, from the facial forma- 
tion observable in sundry of the Indians at Merida, 
particularly in the women, wb^ resemble, in their 
physiognomy, the sculptured faces upon the stones at 
Palenque. The delicately tapered straight leg, small 
knee joints, and large shoulders, are mentioned as 
characteristics strongly marking a similarity of de- 
scent. The more distant Indians, and especially 
those of the mountains, have preserved their idioms 
as well as their ancient customs in a much greater 
degree — their language being more pure, and their 
manners more uniform. 

That these people are the descendants of the an- 
cient Mayas, there is hardly room to doubt. That 
tongue now pervades the whole peninsula, and is un- 
derstood and spoken even by the whites. They 
were well known to be far advanced in civilization 
when first discovered, the strongest evidences of 
which are scattered throughout the province. Their 
calendars have been deciphered ; and their astro- 
nomical symbols and hieroglyphicai signs have been 
identified with those of the Mexicans, They had 
also their picture writings, called anal/hes, which 
were executed upon bark, and folded up in the same 
shape as books.* 

* A specimen of the Lord's Prayer in the Maya language is here tran- 
scribed : — 

Cayum yannech ti canoob, cilich cunabac a kaba, tac cokol a ka- 
haulil utzcinabac, a nolah ti luum baix, te li caane sa ca zamalkin, uait 
tooa helclach, zatex ix czipil bay czazic, u zipil uh ziplob looue maix. 
a uilic e lubul, ti tuntabale, hanuca lukezoii, ichil lobil. Aruen. 



WALDECK— MAYA GRAMMAR. 69 

Waldeck says, and a residence of several years 
i^ives -veight to his impressions, that the Maya now 
spoken partakes very little of the ancient language 
of the country ; more especially in the neighborhood 
of large towns and cities. The continued inter- 
course that has existed between the Indians and 
Spaniards, since the conquest, has Castilianized their 
idiom to such an extent, that the original is nearly 
lost to those who are now held in vassalage. The 
affinity observable between the Maya and Tchole 
dialects proves them to be a complete medley ; and 
that this mixture occurred at an early period, he was 
convinced from the proofs he held in his own pos- 
session of the ancient idioms. For instance, in refer- 
ring to his vocabulary, he finds that those words end- 
ing in un, in the I'chole tulum^ (a circle,) are tulun. 
The X has the sound of ch in church. The Mayas 
are indebted to Francis Gabriel Bonaventure, author 
of a work published in 1560, called Arte del Idioma 
Maya ; and to R. P. F. Pedro Beltran, who wrote in 
1746,* two Franciscan monks, for tids style of pro- 

* It is my purpose to give a more extended discussion of the Maya 
language in a subsequent chapter. I was so fortunate as to procure 
from an Indian in the interior of Yucatan the only copy I have ever 
seen of R. P. L. Beltran's Grammar of this language, which is men- 
tioned in the text. It is entitled, " Arte de el Idioma Maya, Reducido a 
Succinctas Reglas y Semi Lexicon Yucateco, por el R. P. F. Pedro Bel- 
tran, de Santa Rosa Maria, ex-Custodio, Lect r que sue -"e Philosophia 
y Theologia, Revisor del Sto. Oficio, e hijo de esta Sta. Recoleccion Fran- 
ciscana de Merida. Formolo y Dictolo sienda Maestro de Lengua Maya 
en el Convento Capitular de N. S. P. S. Francisco, de dicha Ciudad. 
Avio de 1742, Yolo Dedica a la Gloriosa Indiana Santa Rosa Maria de 
Lima, con licencia : en Mexico, por la Venda de D. Joseph Bernardo de 
rtogal. Anode 174(5." 



70 MAYA LANGUAGE. 

nunciation. Waldeck affirms, that the language now 
spoken in Yucatan is not that for which those au- 
thors laid down the principles. 

It appears that these people had no written lan- 
guage other than their hierogly^. ' ics The idioms 
now used were put into their present shape by their 
conquerors, from sounds representing things, gather- 
ed from the lips of the Indians. Definitions of their 
figurative writing, so far as it can be ascertained, 
might lead to more satisfactory results. They might 
serve as guides to some knowledge (tf a race, which 
evidently practised the useful and the ornamental 
arts; but which probably had emigrated to this 
hemisphere previous to the invention of letters. 

The Maya dialect is very barren of expression ; 
and, to a stranger, difficult of pronunciation. The 
same word often conveys different meanings, from 
the peculiar manner of sounding it. In fact, to speak 
it well, requires careful study, and an untiring prac- 
tice. Under these obstructions, it would take a long 
time to become so familiarized to the tongue, as to 
be able to communicate with that people in a way 
to discover any of those traditions that may yet lurk 
among them. But, after all, they are like an ex- 
hausted mine ; the metal which the curious seek has 
been extracted ; and it need only be sought for in 
those regions where the soil has never been dis- 
turbed. 

The dress of the Indian is of the simplest kind. 
His food principally consists of corn ; which is pie- 
pared by parboihng, and crushing on a stone by 



INDIAN CHARACTERISTICS. 7] 

means of a roller. When ready, it is made into 
balls ; and, after being mixed with water, it is ready 
to be eaten. Corn is broken in the same way, and 
made into cakes called tortillas, which are the favorite 
food of all classes of society in this province. The 
wages for Indian service are from one to four dollars 
per month ; the largest portion of which, in very many 
cases, is expended for candles and other offerings to 
their chosen saint. In general these Indians are ex- 
tremely mild and inoil<^nsive. Drinking is their most 
decided vice ; but even this, as we have already remark- 
ed, cannot be called a prevaihng one. They are a 
listless rather than indolent race, and never " think for 
the morrow." They have quite an amiable expres- 
sion in their countenances, and their mode of con- 
versation is pleasing. Their features remind one ol 
those of the Asiatic more than of any other. Their 
stature is short and thick-set, having but little resem- 
blance to that of the North American Indian. We 
looked in vain for their pastimes — they have none, 
except those connected with the church. They sel- 
dom dance or sing. They are wholly under the sur- 
veillance of the priests, and are the most zealous 
devotees to their rites and ceremonies. Their hours 
of leisure are passed in their hammocks, or else in 
silently squatting about the corners of the streets. 
Though they wear the outside show of freedom, they 
have n-t even as much liberty as the most abject 
vassal of the middle ages. They are literally degra- 
ded to the position of serfs. They are always in 
debt, and are consequently at the mercy of their 



72 



CONDITION OF THE INDIANS. 



creditors, who, by the law of the country, have a lien 
apon their services until their dehts are cancelled. 
This, together with the absence of nearly all the or- 
dinary encouragements to exertion, common in a 
colder climate, and among a more progressive peo- 
ple, conspires to keep the Indian Yucatecos in a state 
of listless bondage, which they endure without a 
murmur, and we may add, from our own observation, 
without much positive suffering. Legalized slavery 
as it is well known, does not exist in any part of 
Mexico. 




A YUCATECO INDIAN'S HOUSE. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Preparations for the Interior — Outfit, &c. — The Indian Boy — Depart- 
ure from Merida — Arrival at Tixcoco — Calcachen — A Feast-day — 
Isamal at a distance — Arrival there — Our Palace — A Procession — 
Ancient Mounds — The Church — A striking Indian — Wrong Im- 
pressions — Tuncax — A Dilemma — Philosophy of the Road-side — 
A Dinner — Visit to a Curate — A Touch of Comfort — Mail Carrier 
— Si tax — An Indian Alcalde — Tinum — An Allusion — Valladolid 
— A Mistake rectified in time 

The varying and unsatisfactory accounts which 1 
had received of the interior of Yucatan, had awa- 
kened in me an irresistible desire to explore it, al- 
though I tried in vain to define to myself the cause 
of my curiosity. Partly through a desire of novelty, 
and partly for the want of a more definite purpose, 
I resolved to inva»^e those unexplored regions which 
had not yet found a corner in our geographies, nor 
even been reached by the all-pervading spirit of traf- 
fic. As soon as I had resolved, I addressed myself 
to the preparation of my outfit; in which, despite 
the ignorance and indolence of my Mexican aids, I 
was ultimately successful. 

To some future traveller, it may be interesting to 
know the nature of my preparation. 

In the first place, then, I provided myself with an 
over-all shirt, (pockets made to order,) Mexican rid- 



74 PREPARATIONS FOR TiiE INTERIOR — OUTFIT. 

ing-trousers, and palm-leaf hat. In addition to these, 
were a hammock and a striped blanket; the latter 
article Ainericanized by ornamental stars, repr^ent- 
ing the emblems of my country, in white, red, and 
blue; under which one could sleep, fight, or negotiate, 
as circumstances might require. Of weapons, defen- 
sive and conciliatory, there were a double-barrelled 
gun, an Indian knife, and rather a limited amount of 
the smallest Spanish coin. The Indian and the 
Bowie knife are very similar in weight and shape. 
The former is an indispensable accompaniment upon 
a journey through this peninsula. It may be seen 
that, if driven to the wall, a very tolerable show of 
defence might have been made. 

The cooking arrangements consisted of tin cups 
and pans, salt, and loco-foco matches. My philo- 
sophical and mathematical instruments were a mem- 
orandum book, an ordinary lead pencil, and a pocket 
compass ! The instruments and dress were intrust- 
ed to no one but myself — the latter enveloped my 
person, while the former occupied those invaluable 
shirt-pockets, of which I claim to be the original 
inventor. To the Indian boy Jose, (pronounced 
Hosay,) whom I hired as a servant to accompany 
me, and who will be .hereafter better known to my 
readers, was intrusted the other portioii of my 
luggage. 

The boy, to whom allusion has just been made, 
was decidedly genteel in his appearance. Though 
he has been termed a boy, he is of the kind who. 
among the Irish, never become men until they are 



DEPARTURE FROM MERIDA — TIXCOCO. 75 

married. He was about five-aiid-twenty years of 
age. His mother and sisters thought the world of 
him, and well they might ; for he was most worthy 
of their affections. Both his physical and mental 
powers were v ry symmetrical. He was active, in- 
dustrious, and faithful. If he had any fault, perhaps 
it was in being t'^o amorous. I do not feel disposed, 
however, to quarrel with a constitutional infirmity, 

I left the agreeable residence of Dona Michaele, 
in company with my Jidus Achates, on the twenty- 
ninth of January, »'n one of the most lovely morn- 
ings that the ye of God ever looked out upon to 
bless. 

Our route was eastward, towards Valladolid. The 
road was wide, and in excellent condition, being one 
of the princip 1 thoroughfares. This road is under 
the superintendence of government; and the expen- 
ses of its repairs are defrayed by a tax, similar to the 
road-tax usually levied in the United States. 

At ten <> clock we arrived at the town of Tixcoco, 
and rode up to the Casa-real ; which belongs to a 
class of houses set apart by the municipal authori- 
ties of every town for the accommodation of travel- 
lers. They are the substitutes for public houses ; a 
convenience almost unknown to the country. 

The Casa-real is also the receptacle for the public 
property of the place — such as implements of labor, 
punishment, &c. — consisting of crowbars, hand- 
cuffs, wooden scale-beams, and drums, staffs of the 
alcaldes, &c. 

These accommodations and depositories are in 



76 TORTILLAS— FREJOLES — CALCACHEN. 

charge of some six or eight Indians, who are draft- 
ed to serve one year, under the direction of the al- 
caldes, who represent aldermen in the judicial capa- 
city. These Indians also attend upon the wants of 
strangers, and depend wholly upon the small pit- 
tances they receive for their support. It is almost 
needless to add, what follows necessarily from the 
tenure of their offices, that they are idle, negligent, 
and without enterprise. 

At a quarter before eleven I took breakfast, which 
had been brought from some neighboring house. It 
was composed of eggs, tortillas, and frejoles. The 
tortillas are a ■ ind of corn-cakes, and constitute the 
principal bread of the country. Frejoles are small 
black beans, in general use in all the provinces of 
Mexico, and occupy the same elevated rank in the 
domestic economy of that nation that the potato 
does in Ireland. To complete the morning's repast, 
a calabash of maza was added. This is a drink 
prepared with corn, and is usually drunk by the na- 
tives in the place of tea and coffee. 

The town of Tixcoco is ornamented with a 
large church, and the appurtenances thereto usually 
belonging in CathoUc countries; but the dwellings, 
generally, are m.re Indian huts, of mud walls and 
thatched roofs. 

At three o'clock, after the heat of the day, we 
again started up n our route ; and at six, rode up to 
the Casa-real of Calcachen, where we stopped dur- 
ing the night. The best room in the house was 
placed at our disposal. The corners of the apart- 



PREPARATIONS FOR A FESTIVAL— THE INDIANS. 



77 



ment proved that it had been swept ; for the collec- 
tions of months still remained there, a standing evi 
dence of the fact. 

The Casa-real, according to universal custom, 
fronts upon a public square ; where -reat preparations 
were at this time making to celebrate some one of 
the religious festivals -'^r the followiUj^ Monday. An 
amphitheatre was erected, formed of poles, having a 
row of seats overlooking the arena, where bull-fights 
were to take place. In the evening, in anticipation 
of the festival, guns were discharged, and a display 
of fireworks took place from the roof of the church. 
The Indians, on these occasions, hke our juvenile 
patriots previous to the fourth of July, usually anti- 
cipate the sport of the festal day some forty-eight 
hours or more before it arrives. 

Next morni:r g (Sunday) I was awakened before 
daylight by the noise of the natives, who, as usual, 
could not restrain their impatience for the arrival of 
their day of rejoicing. Wooden drums and horns 
were brought in requisition ; and, at sun-rise, rockets 
were being discharged from the church. The bells 
were rung, the crowd entered the building, and quiet 
was restored. 

Preparatory to cleansing our guns, previous to our 
departure from this town, they were discharged. 
This was understood by the Indians to b^ a com- 
plimentary salute to their saint, and they crowded 
around me, to my great annoyance, insisting that I 
should remain with them until the end of t' e feast. 
F'lattei'.ng as was this invitation, which, at one time, 



78 ISAMAL — QUARTERS. 

I thoiig;^it I should be compelled to accept, I succeed- 
ed in declining without giving offence. Lidding 
them adieu, we saddled our horses, and were once 
more upon the road. After passing tlirough two 
small Indian towns of little notoriety, we arrived at 
Isamal at noon. 

The road continued to be good; and four miles 
distant, the church could be seen, throwing the 
shadows of its massive walls over the surrouncinp 
objects. 

On arriving at the Casa-real, it was found to be 
deplorably filthy and uncomfortable ; to which 1 
was in no condition of mind or body to submit. 
I went in quest of the Colonel of the town, whom 
I found to be a quondam friend, and an old house- 
mate at Doiia Michaele's, in Merida, and that he 
had been recently appointed to this station. From 
the natural politeness of this gentleman, I was 
guarantied a kind reception, and such good quar- 
ters were provided as to make me feel quite at home ; 
as all will be prepared to believe, when they know 
of the accommodations. 

We were the sole proprietors of a lordly mansion, 
with a retinue of In'ians to atten^l our bidding. 
The structure which we inhabited occupies one 
side of a large square, and is raised upon strong and 
well-built arches of '^bout twelve feet, supporting the 
long ranges of halls, rooms, and pillared corridors, 
of easy access by steps leading off at different sec- 
tions. The whole was quite imposing in its appear- 
ance, and not the less attractive for having l)eew re- 



FESTIVAL — ANCIENT MOUNDS. 79 

cently cleansed and whitewashed. This building 
was used for public offices in Isamal's better days. 
I occupied the south-eastern angle of the mansion, 
looking out upon the square and market-place. The 
scene without, however, was not very fascinating. A 
few Indian women only were to be observed, selling or 
carrying meats and vegetables; and mules browsing 
over thu (grounds. 

Sunday evening was being observed here by a long 
procession from one of the churches, composed of 
priests, and upwards of four hundred Indian girls, 
clad in plain white cotton dresses, crich carrying a 
lighted candle. It was a beautiful and even an im- 
posing sight. In this procession was carried a figure 
of the Virgin, surrounded by all the symbols of the 
church, upon a stage preceded by music, and herald- 
ed with occasional displays of fire-works. 

In the morning, at an early hour, I visited the 
suburbs of the town, where I observe.! a number of 
mounds, the highest of which I judged to be from fifty 
to sixty feet, and which I ascended. The sides were 
very precipitous, and covered with loose stones. I 
was compelled to pull myself up by the aid of the 
bushes that overgrew the surface. 

Before reaching the summit, and about two-thirds 
of the way from the base, is a square platform of about 
two acres in extent, in the centre of which is a well, 
partially filled in with stones, and more or less over- 
grown with vegetation. This dilapidation and de 
cay had evidently been the work of centuries. 

From the top of this mound there was a fine pros 



^ REFLECTIONS — THE PRIEST . 



pect. The view of the town, with its elevatea 
church, and the flat-roofed, Moorish-looking houses, 
with the trees of the tropics interspersed, and the tall 
cocoa, varying the surface of the extended country 
in the distance, presented a rural scene rarely to be 
met with in this country. 

The plane surface of the land around these eleva- 
tions, precludes the supposition that they -^.re natural 
formations. Their origin and purpose can only be 
surmised. Probably they were fortifications — per- 
haps look-out places: — 

" An observatory, from whence to overlook 
The 'uiiTounding world at one broad glance, 
And view their wily foes." 

Be this as it may, I felt awed when I looked upon 
them. I could not but feel that they established a 
sort of parenthetic connexion between myself and 
elder ages, and a strange people who had customs 
now unknow'i, and of whom history has preserved 
no better memorials than the indistinct yet eloquent 
piles of stone and earth before me. 

After our breakfast, I called at the house of the 
curate, but he was absent; asserting the prerogative 
of the traveller, I thereupon introduced myself to the 
priest in charge, and informed him that I was a 
stranger, and should not be ungrateful for any atten- 
tions that might be bestowed upon me in that char- 
acter. His reception was rather cool ; but, as my 
object was to obtain information, I affected not to 
notice it. After some trivial delays, I was enabled 
to visit the church which had so struck my eye as I 



THE CHURCH — THE PRIEST. 81 

approached the city, and which I was desirous of 
seeing. It is situated in the centre of the city, upon 
an artificial elevation, which once, no doubt, was the 
site of some important structure of the ancient peo- 
ple who formerly inhabited this province. It was 
probably destroyed to make room for a monastery — 
the ruins of which (the church which forms a part 
of it being preserved) cover some acres of land. 

The church was filled with rude carving, and 
with s.till more rude and incomprehensible paintings. 
Within the walls, which encompass the whole of the 
grounds, is a square that once must have been a mag- 
nificent place, but which is now totally neglected. 
It has on three sides a double row of pillars, forming 
a beautiful promenade, from which the country, as 
far as the eye can reach, is overlooked. 

The priest who conducted me over the premises, 
seemed to know nothing of the church in which he 
officiated, and even less, if possible, of the city and 
its environs, whence came the patronage on which 
he subsisted. The Latin inscription upon the build- 
er's tablet was incomprehensible to him ; but it is no 
more than justice to say, that he was evidently cha- 
grined by the ignorance which he had been forced 
to exhibit. He conducted me to the turret, and 
pointed out the clock for my inspection ; it was a 
rare piece of mechanism ; but the most striking part 
of it wa3 a live Indian stationed beside it, to strike 
the hours. 

The towns throughout this portion of the interior 
are well laid out, and the houses well built ; every 

6 



82 TRADE— HABITS. 

thing looks as though they might be inhabited by a 
stirring people. Arriving in one of them at the 
close of the day, the stranger is led to attribute 
the pervading quiet to that particular time ; in the 
morning he would think the same ; but, at morning, 
noon, and night, the same composing monotony reigns, 
and all days, (those of the feasts excepted,) and all 
places, are ahke. A listless apathy seems to hang 
around them — a pervading stillness an' inactivity, 
which are painful to observe. 

The principal stores are kept by the whites, who, 
in the ratio of population, are to the Indians, about 
as one to six. Their stock comprises all descriptions 
of goods required by the inhabitants ; among which 
the article of distilled liquors is the most promi- 
nent — the demand for which, I observed, increased, 
as I advanced into the interior. 

The Indian of the town clock has this moment 
struck one ; the stores are closed, and the streets de- 
serted. The whole of the population, excepting a 
few straggling natives, are in their hammocks. Mid- 
night is on us in pantomime, without its darkness. 
In fifteen minutes more, all Yucatan, literally, may 
be said to be asleep — even my Jose now is looking 
at me with a drowsy eye, and wondering, no doubt, 
why I do not follow the example. The climate is 
really enervating, and I have determined to swing 
a while, if it be only to learn not to condemn the 
habits of others. 

On the following morning we left Isamal, stopping 
occasionally upon the road-side, to examine the so- 



SONATOS — JOSE — TUNCAX. 8 3 

natos which lay in our route. These are large wells, 
which apparently have been formed by convulsions 
of Nature, in the midst of silicious and calcareous 
rocks. They contain a never failing supply of good 
water, and are a rendezvous of Indians, and halt- 
ing-places for the muleteers, who usually are found 
taking their refreshments there. The calabash of 
Maza was always tendered to us with unrestrained 
hospitality, and we were almost uniformly asked to 
partake of their other provisions. Sharing the food 
of these humble wayfarers is an unfailing guarantee 
of their good-will, and to decline, if not construed as 
an offence, would certainly wound their sensibility. 

I frequently had occasion to observe the tact that 
Jose possessed of making himself agreeable to those 
we met upon the r"ad, and was often reminded of my 
good fortune in havingr secured his valuable ser- 
vices. 

Parting from our transient friends, we hurried on 
in a vain effort to escape a violent shower which 
threatened us, and which overtook us in time to 
drench us thoroughly before we got refuge, at noon, 
i^; the Casa-real at Tuncax. 

It is too late for me to expect any credit for re- 
marking the mutability of all human affairs; but I 
was reminded of the fact to-day with all the force of 
a new revelation. But this morning I was quartered 
like a prince, with a palace for a dwelling, and a ca- 
cique's retinue to obey my ^ 'dding ; and now, there 
is not an Indian so poor aS to do me reverence. 
The floor of the Casa-real into which fate had cast 



84 PHILOSOPHY — DINNER — THE CURATE. 

me v/as not entirely covered with water. The ham- 
mock swung clear of the mud. There evidently had 
been a roof over head, and my situation would have 
been positively worse in the streets. Comparative- 
ly, then, T was comfortable. The rain too had al- 
most ceased ; the Indians were coming in, and the 
prospects of a dinner were brightening. Across 
the square stood the church, with its heavy walls 
blackened with the sun and the rain, with its ga- 
bled front, and pigeon-holed apex, and its trio of 
bells. 15y its side stood the house of the curate, with 
its low sides, and high though dilapidated thatched 
roof There were some half dozen stores scattered 
about, and a fe./ stone buildings, no doubt inhabited 
by the whites ; the rest of the town, as usual, is made 
of Indian huts. 

The dinner came, audit satisfied me that none can 
appreciate the importance of a meal, except those 
who have tried it after a day's riding and fasting in a 
country like this. After a hearty repast of tortillas 
and frejoles, the weather was consulted, with a view of 
continuing our journey ; but the result was not flatter- 
ing. The fact was much clearer than the sky, that 
we were to remain here during the night, and there 
was no friendly Colonel within reach to rescue me 
from my lodgings. But it struck me that there 
must be some resource. The curate appeared to be 
the only chance, so to his house I wended my 
way, and entered with the customary " Ave Maria" 
upon my lips. He was swinging in his hammock. 
1 introduced myself to him at once ; described 



COMFORTS — VISIT TO THE CHURCH. 



85 



the deplorable state of the Casa-real, and solicited 
his influence in obtaining us more comfortable quar- 
ters. He received me very kindly, and promised to 
do all in his pov^^er to make me comfortable ; and 
right well he kept his word. A bottle of " Abenaro," 
a peculiar liquor of the country, and its accompani- 
ment of cigars, were speedily sent for ; and, in much 
less time than it requires to partake of either, I dis- 
covered that I was ai; home, at the house of my friend, 
the curate of Tuncax. 

A long and animated conversation followed, which, 
I only recollect, was poorly understood by either, in 
consequence of the small amount of words which we 
comprehended in common. It was, mainly, of a po- 
litical cast; politics being the subject in which he 
appeared to take most interest. 

The curate was a young man, who, compared 
with many of his order in the country, had devoted 
much time to study. He has possessed the curacy 
for the last four years ; but, if one may draw con- 
clusions from things around, it is not a very lucrative 
situation. 

Everything in the vicinity indicated extreme pov- 
erty ; and I felt some embarrassment in asking to see 
his church and its nakedness. This, however, was 
happily obviated ' y a polite invitation, on his part, 
to conduct me throu. h it So, putting on his black 
velvet and silk, and mounting a curious high-peaked 
hat, and taking his telescope in his hand, he led the 
way over the broken stone floors, and along the dark 
damp halls, to the edifice. 



86 ATTENTIONS — A SUPPER. 

As we entered, he remarked that it was poor. In- 
deed, that was plainly impressed upon everything 
in and about it. It had not even cleanliness and 
order to relieve its appearance. We passed through 
it, and ascended, by a flight of stone steps on the out- 
side, to the roof, where, by the aid of the telescope, 
we had a fine view of the surrounding country. 

On returning, my kind host made such immediate 
and complete arrangements for our accommodation, 
as guarantied to my mrnage not only comfort, but 
some degree of splendor. On reaching the house 
that had been made ready for our reception, my 
friend, the curate, informed me that it was mine, and 
desired me to call for whatever I wished. The sad- 
dlebags and hammock were sent for, and everything 
was soon in a comfortable condition. The table 
was supplied with refreshments, and ornamented with 
large earthen cups of cool water, on the surface of 
which full-blown red roses were floating. The ear- 
den attached to my house, which I supposed, of 
course, was included in the gift, was fragrant with 
ripe oranges, an ;' other delicious fruits. Besides all 
these, a whole troop of Indians were in attendance, 
to await my behests. There stands the Casa-real, 
our deserted hovel, just across the way. These 
sudden changes absolutely require nerve. 

Between the kindness of the curate, the company 
of a civil dignitary of the town, and two other citi- 
zens, as guests, and a supper, which, I flatter myself, 
I was fully prepared to appreciate, served up with 
the unusual luxury of knives and forks, I contrived 



fiE ROAD-SIDE — MML-CAERaEiL 87 

to pass one of the most agreeable evenings that I had 
enjoyed since my departure from home. 

At three o'clock on the following morning, we 
made ready to leave. The church was already 
lighted up, and the worthy curate at his post. At 
four we were in our saddles, and were soon mak- 
ing our way upon the road. The sky was clear and 
bright. The moon was half gone, throwing a som- 
bre light upon all things around us. The green 
bushes by the road-side looked black; and the bleach- 
ed wood of the rude crosses, erected at the pathway 
entrances to the haciendas, appeared forlorn and 
startling. 

We met with but one living thing upon the road, 
and that was the mail-carrier. Neither the trampling 
of horses, nor the sound of horn, heralded his ap- 
proach ; but the clamping sounds of his wooden san- 
dals, as they struck upon the stony road, gave us the 
first notice that he was near. The mail was con- 
tained in a small box, held by a strap, which passed 
round the head of the carrier, who was an Indian. 

At eight o'clock we arrived at Sitax, the prettiest 
town we had seen ; where we stopped for breakfast 
and to obtain a horse, that of Jose having given out. 
As I strolled about the place, I noticed a more mark- 
ed appearaoce of order than was generally to be seen 
in the otlier towns. At the house of an old Indian 
I saw an earthen vase, something of the Etruscan 
shape, which he told me had been found among so «e 
of the ancient ruins in this province. He used it as 
an incense-burner; and refused to sell, or even to 



88 1 il^ ALO 4J.dk at SITAX — TINUM. 

set a price upon it. Money is not omnipotent with 
these Indians, as in most civihzed countries ; and this 
prostration of the divinity ahnost startled me. 

On returning to the Casa-real, breakfast and an 
alcalde were sent for. Both came. The former 
consisted of the almost undeviating course — eggs, 
tortillas, and frejoles ; and the latter, of a strapping 
big Indian, barefooted, bearing his staff of office, and 
accompanied by one of his aids. My wants were 
soon explained ; and he iaimediately despatched his 
aid, who brought an Indian that agreed to carry Jose 
and luggage to Valladolid, eight leagues, for the sum 
of half a dollar. The bargain was concluded, and 
the money paid in advance, as is always customary 
among the natives. This demand must be complied 
with uniformly. Even the women who wash clothes 
require a juedio in advance, to buy soap. 

The luggage was lashed to the back of a mule, 
and we were again upon the road. Several stops 
were made by the way, to visit haciendas and ran- 
chos, (grain and cattle farms ;) but little of interest 
occurred upon our journey. We arrived at the town 
of Tinum at two o'clock. The sun being exces- 
sively hot, we waited till evening. The Casa-real 
in this, as in other towns of the province, was the 
loafering-place of the Indians. They were squatted 
about in the shade, silent and motionless, killing time 
to the best of their abihties. At four o jlock we 
again betook ourselves to the road, and passing; 
through several inconsiderable Indian towns, arrived 



THE ROADS — VALLADOLID. 89 

at Valladolid at dusk on the fourth day of February, 
distance one hundred and twenty miles from Merida. 

For the greater part of the way fronl Isamal to 
this city, the road is level, though somewnat rough. 
As we drew near to Valladolid, gentle risings were 
more common at intervals, particularly near t*- ^ sona- 
tos. Although this road commences at the capital, 
and leads through all the principal cities a A tOvvns of 
the interior, it is but little travelled. No wheel car- 
riages, of any description, were seen. Transporta- 
tion is mostly effected by mules — perhaps I should 
say, by Indians ; many of whom were met upon the 
road with heavy packages secured upon their backs, 
and held by plaited ropes passed around the head in 
the usual manner. 

After a fatiguing day's journey, we reined up in 
the square of the city, before the Casa-real, and dis- 
mounted. I discovered, however, before entering, 
that it was full ; and, upon inquiry, ascertained that 
it was occupied by prisoners, who were detained 
there while their usual place was undergoing repairs. 
This sort of association not being altogether agree- 
able to me, we remounted, and went in quest of 
a countryman, who I heard was residing here. 
Successful, after much inquiry, in finding him, my 
name, the object of my visit to Valladolid, &c., were 
all communicated to him in due form; but some- 
how Mr. Stephens, who had been daily expected here 
for the last two months, had got into the head of my 
new acquaintance, as I afterwards learned, and, in 
his confusion, he had mistaken me for that celebrated 



90 MISTAKE RECTIFIED IN TIME. 

traveller, and led me, without my being aware of the 
misconception, to the house of a friend who had 
been long advised of that gentleman's approach. I 
was met by the polite and hospitable owner of the 
house, and invited to walk in, while orders were giv- 
en to have care taken of the horses. But, mistrust- 
ing that all was not right, I halted at the threshold, 
and requested a parley. It was only with a consid- 
erable degree of earnestness that I was enabled to 
convince him that I was neither Mr. Stephens nor 
the Medico, (alluding, probably, to Dr. Cabot, one of 
the companions of Mr. Stephens.) The amiable 
lady and her daughter were quite amused at the 
incident, and seemed rather to enjoy my embarrass- 
ment than otherwise. I drew off, and followed my 
countryman to his quarters, where I was kindly en- 
tertained for the night. This was rather a laughable 
circumstance; but I congratulated myself that we 
came to an understanding in time to prevent its be- 
coming ludicrous. 




A BOAD SIDE. 



CHAPTER V. 

Festival of the Purification — A Factory Disrorered — New Quarters — 
Appearance of Public Buildings — Church — Singular Display of Taste 

— Population and Health — The Town — Its Suburbs — Monastic 
Ruins — Ptemarkable Sonato — Amusements — The Riband Dance — 
The Market Place — Cotton — Ancient Ruins — Difficulties of Stran- 
gers — A Norther — Kaua — The Churlish Curate — End of a Feast 

— The Route — Approach to Chi-Chen — A Glimpse of the Ruins. 

Travelling gear was now thrown aside, the toi- 
let consuhed, and in a few moments I was in a 
procession in honor of the " Purification of the Ho- 
ly Virgin," with head uncovered, as devout a Catho- 
lic as could be met within the precincts of the Vati- 
can, or, at least, within the congregation about me, 
if I might be permitted to judge from the appendix 
to their devotional exercises on the present occasion. 
The men, women, and children, as soon as thej had 
concluded these ceremonies here, started in a body, 
with a revolting precipitation, to the gaming tables, 
which had been set forth in the ruins of an old con- 
vent adjoining the sanctuary where the procession 
had just been dissolved ! Here were found all class- 
es of society, male and female. The highest eccle- 
siastic.l and civil dignitaries were there, hob and nob, 
with the most common of the multitude. The ladies 
generally interested themselves in the games, and some- 



92 A FACTORY. 

tinas played deep. They were, most of them, good- 
ie king, and tastefully dressed ; but they quite stared 
me or. of countenance. I doubtless appeared as 
strpjye to them, as they and their customs did to me. 
I contrived, however, to survive their scrutiny. Af- 
ter lounging about the long corridors where the com- 
pany was assembled, observing and being observed 
for two hours, and feeling fatigued, not only with the 
scenes around, but with the day's ride, I hastened to 
my quarters, and the quiet of the pillow. 

Awaking at an early hour in the morning, the 
sounds of a steam-engine greeted my ear. No mu- 
sic ever thrilled me with so much delight. For a 
moment I dreamed that I was in the land of the work- 
ingman, and within the charmed circle of his minis- 
trations. On looking out, however, in the direction 
whence the noise proceeded, I noticed a cotton 
factory in a neighboring street. I need not say that 
it became the very first object of my curiosity. 

The proprietor of this establishment, to whom I 
had letters, is a gentlenu\:i of the old school, well 
informed and communicati ^ ; :uk'. withal, a liberal 
man. He was a native of S^ • iji ; in his early 
years was attached to the navy of that kingdom ; 
and, among other things in his eventful life, was at 
the battle of Trafalgar. Since he has resided in Yu- 
catan he has been its governor, and held many other 
high and responsible stations, and is now esteemed one 
of its most valuable citizens. His attentions to me, 
during my stay, were as real as they were unremit- 
ting. He informed me that the factory was es^ab- 



THE TRAVELLER IN YUCATAN. 93 

lished by himself, in connexion vith othei., in 1834. 
The engine, looms, &c., were brought from New- 
York, and transported across the country, from the 
port of Sisal to this place, in wagons imported for 
the purpose. It was an arduous as well as a very 
expensive undertaking. The proprietor has over- 
come many obstacles which he had to encounter at 
the commencement of his enterprise, and is now suc- 
cessfully established, with a very fair business. His 
was the first, and is still the only one in the country. 
I found it in complete order, and conducted upon the 
most liberal scale, yielding to those employed more 
than double the amount of wages usually paid in this 
state. The building was of the most durable stone ; 
two .stories high, forty-five by seventy-five feet, and 
with an arched roof, supported by strong hutments. 
The style of the arched roof is common to this coun- 
try, owing to the absence of large timber. The 
ground it occupies, including the out-houses, is about 
one hundred and fifty by two hun ired feet. The 
first floor contains the looms, twenty in number ; and 
the second, a thousand spindjes, with a picker and 
gin. It turns out four hundred yards of cloth per 
day, ot rx uniform medium quality, of a strong texture, 
which is considered superior to either the American 
or the English of the same class. It employs fifty 
men, principally of the half-breeds, who are paid by 
the piece. The cost of the building and machinery 
Was upwards of forty thousand dollars. 

The traveller, in this country, is often subjected to 
ihe unpleasant necessity of thrusting himself upon 



94 QUARTERS -THE SQUARE. 

the civility of the inhabitants of the towns he visits, 
owing to the ahnost total absence of public houses, 
and the miserable condition of many of the Casa- 
reals ; but foreign visiters are seldom here, so that the 
kindnesses I have thus far experienced, appear to be 
tendered with the utmost cheerfulness. The people 
do not feel the presence of a guest to be irksome ; 
and, whatever may be said of their characters, the 
want of hospitality to strangers cannot be charged 
against them. 

The kind friend to whom I have alluded, procured 
for me comfortable quarters in an unoccupied build- 
ing in the square, of which I at once took possession. 
It is situated in front of the church, apd adjoins the 
curate's house, which is tenanted by himself and his 
three or {oMxfemmes pivpres a tout, and fifteen or six- 
teen children, who are taught to call him father. 

The square itself is a fine one ; or, rather, there is 
room for a fine one ; but, li' .e most other fine squares 
in the towns I have visited, is destitute of style or 
decoration. The public buildings, which are the 
town-house, of two stories, with low pillared arches, 
and the church, are all that strike the evp of the 
stranger; the others are comprised of som-. lew one- 
story dwelling houses and stores, with huge doors 
and barred windows, occupied by citizens and small 
dealers. The area of this square serves as a market- 
place, and a pasture for mules to graze ! 

The church presents a neat appearance from with- 
out, and is one of the very handsomest buildings I 
had seen in the country. It is of stone, covered with 



THE CHURCH — HEALTH. 96 

a yellow stucco. The door lintels and arches are 
of carved stone ; it has two square turrets, in good 
keeping, and is set oflf with a well-proportioned dome. 
There are some irregularities, however ; but these are 
not seen, exc.ept from particular points of observation. 
The interior of this, as of most of the churches in the 
province, is in a bad condition ; its decorations are 
in barbarous taste, and its shrines defaced. Its ex- 
terior impresses one with an idea of its vastness ; but, 
on entering, it appears diminutive. This is owing to 
the great depth of the walls, of this and similar build- 
ings throughout Yucatan, which are frequently from 
twelve to fifteen feet thick. At the entrance is a 
shrine, representing our Saviour bearing his cross, 
assisted by the figure of a man in tight shorts, of the 
old English style, and coat to match. The hat worn 
by the adjutant was not absolutely bad, but in shock- 
ing bad taste. It was a silk imitation beaver ; being 
one of those high, bell-crowned narrow-rims, of the 
style worn some fifteen or twenty years ago. This 
was probably intended for " Simon of Cyrene." The 
incumbent of this curacy has a large income, which, 
it is said, he has enjoyed for many years, without 
having ever entered the walls of his church. 

The number of inhabitants of Valladolid and its 
suburbs, is estimated at about fifteen thousand. The 
place is note > throughout the peninsula for the salu- 
brity of its climate; and no better evidence need be 
adduced, than the simple fact of there not being a 
single doctor or apothecary in the whole district. 
Citizens from other parts of the province, less fa- 



96 THE STREETS — THE ELITE — SUBURBS. 

vored, come here to recruit and to recover their 
health. 

The streets are well laid out, and clean ; but grass 
grows in the centre of the most frequented. The 
same style of building is observed here as in other 
parts of this country that I have visited. The houses 
are principally of one story, flat roofs, large doors, and 
barred windows ; with court-yards, stone and mortar 
floors, &c. Many large houses in the chief streets, 
within sight of the square, were fast going to decay. 

There are no societies, or private or pubUc places 
of instruction or amusement. This is singular, when 
it is considered that the native inhabitants speak of 
their noble city, as they term it, with great pride, and 
call themselves the elite of Yucatan. This point I 
am not prepared to dispute. It is certain, however, 
that the city, or its society, presents few evidences of 
the schoolmaster having been abroad among them. 

The suburbs, or " barrios" as they are locally call- 
ed, are five in number; each having a church and its 
attendant priest. The population, with a very few 
exceptions, is composed of poor Indians, the major 
part of whom, of both sexes, go habitually in puris 
tiaturaUhus, or nearly so ; living in mean huts, and 
supporting large and expensive churches ; while the}-^ 
themselves appear to be contented to subsist alone 
upon corn and water. 

In the barrio Sisal is the ruin of an old convent 
Its crumbling walls tell of changes that are slowly 
developing themselves in the civilized world. It was 
an immense structure in its time, covering a space 



MONASTIC RUINS. 97 

of two acres, enclosed within a high stone wall ; and 
remains a painful monument of the mighty power 
which the order of Loyola, its original proprietors, 
once exercised upon the destinies of this country. 
All that is now left is the church, and the house of 
the priest The cloisters, corridors, and squares, are 
all fast going to pieces; and fragments of them are 
lying about in every direction. Its spacious halls 
are now the abode of the poor Indian, who aspires 
to a portion of the hallowed influence which is re- 
puted to hang around its dilapidated walls. The 
crumbling turrets and blackened domes are covered 
with a wild vegetation, and have become a perch for 
the buzzard, and the hiding-place for loathsome rep- 
tiles. One of the wells connected with the monas- 
tery is dug through a solid rock to the depth of on©' 
hundred and fifty feet, when it opens upon a subter- 
raneous river of pure water. In former times, a hand- 
some temple was erected over it; the remains of a 
part of its dome still exist. There are not many 
pleasing associations connected with these places. 

The other barrios have nothing of interest. They 
are thickly populated by the Hstless natives, who, as 
usual, live in their small huts, constructed with poles 
and mud. Nothing was to be observed like thrift or 
industry. They were the most wretched specimen 
of human beings that I saw in the country. The 
churches, too, like all things else around them, are 
growing old. Literally, every thing appears to be 
left here to take care of itself The roads in the vi- 
cinity are narrow, broken, rocky pathways for mules 

7 



98 SONATO — AJNIUSEMENTS. 

During my walks about the city 1 came to a sona- 
to, reputed to be the largest in the province, supposed 
to be a portion of a subterraneous river; and caused, 
as I judged, by some great convulsion of nature. It 
presents a fine spectacle, resembling the mouth of a 
cavern, with its overhanging rocks and broken frag- 
ments left or worn away into the shape of inverted 
cones. Evidently, it was once hidden ; and when or 
how it effected an opening, no one hereabouts can 
tell. All that the Indian knows is, that it affords 
him an abundant and good supply of water. The 
average depth of the water is twelve fathoms ; while 
the distance from its surface to the surface of the 
ground above, is full fifty feet. The well itself has 
no perceptible outlet, and is about fifty feet in cir- 
cumference. The surrounding rocks are principally 
calcareous, with a silicious intermixture. These so- 
natos are held in superstitious reverence by the In- 
dians. They are reputed to be the places where 
most of their religious legends had their origin. 

The Indians and Mestizos here still hold on 
to some of the old customs and amusements of 
their forefathers, upon which they pride themselves. 
Among the latter, that of dancing appears to be 
most popular in Valladolid, and usually takes place 
every fair evening, during the festivals, in or near one 
of the squares. Around the place designated for the 
entertainment, as I frequently observed, were placed 
benches for the dancing-girls, who arrange them- 
selves in a row, separated from the crowd. They 
are chosen in regular rotation, and led out to dance. 




=1 

S) 



J 



g= 









RIBAND OR POLE DANCE. 99 

Their toilet was of the olden time, but it set off their 
plain features and low stature to good advantage. 
Their head-gear was a black silk hat, of the style 
usually worn by gentlemen, with gold and silver 
bands, intermixed with roses and long plumes of 
feathers ; and their rich black hair, neatly braided, 
hung down the back, and almost swept the ground. 
The dress consisted of a loose white garment, sus- 
pended gracefully from the shoulders, ornamented at 
the top and bottom with various colored needlework, 
and white silk stockings and shoes — the whole beau- 
tiful and chaste. They danced with much skill and 
taste. The men wore shirts and trousers made of 
cahco, with sash and blanket. The latter article is 
thrown over the shoulder, and carried with a grace 
which one looks for in vain out of Mexico. The 
sight was altogether enchanting ; and I imagined for 
the moment that I beheld before me the royal abun- 
dance and Indian simplicity of the court of Monte- 
zuma. 

The three days of masquerade before lent, (Ash- 
Wednesday,) commenced on Sunday, the sixth of 
February. The riband, or pole dance, among the 
masqueraders, excited the most attention. A pole, 
about twenty feet long, was raised perpendicularly, 
from the top of which were fastened fifteen or twen- 
ty pieces of wide, variously-colored ribands. Each 
dancer, laying hold of a piece and extending it, form- 
ed a wide circle around the pole. The dancing 
commenced at a given signal, all joining. They 

crossed eaj^h other with the greatest precision, and 

L.of C. 



100 MARKET-PLACES — SOIL. 

in such order as to form a beautiful lattice or net- 
work with the ribands, until they were wound up. 
The figure then suddenly changes, and the ribands, 
by a reverse movement, are unwound. This they 
continue until they are tired. The evenings of the 
three days were finished by balls at the house of 
some one of the citizens, where the most respecta- 
ble part of the population was to be seen. 

The market-places of the interior, generally, pre- 
sent a singular appearance to the eye of a stranger. 
The sellers are principally Indians, squatted about 
upon the ground, with small pieces of meat laid out 
in piles, and vegetables displayed in the same man- 
ner, upon benches beside them, in the public square. 
The currency, of cacao seed, is also counted out in 
small parcels, ready to make change to customers. 
The market-place is vacated at an early hour in the 
morning by both customers and venders, to be occu- 
pied, for the remainder of the day, by turkey-buz- 
zards and dogs ; which are suffered to legislate upon, 
negotiate for, and try as best they may, any disputed 
claims which may arise to the property left behind 
by their predecessors of the morning. 

The country in the vicinity of Valladolid is much 
broken and rocky, and carries unequivocal indica- 
tions of earthquakes and convulsions. The soil is 
very thin, but good crops of corn are taken from it. 
The fruit-trees of the tropics are abundant, and yet 
no attention is paid to their cultivation, either for 
use or for ornament. 

The cotton plantations, or rather the districts 



COTTON — VARIOUS RUINS. 101 

where the material is raised that is consumed in the 
manufactory in this city, are to the north, and known 
as the " Tizimen district." The same spot is seldom 
cultivated for two successive seasons. After the crop 
is gathered, the ground is suffered to be overrun with 
weeds and brushwood ; which, when years have 
elapsed, are cut down and burnt, and the field is 
re-planted. Cotton here is not in classification ; it 
is gathered and sold in the seed, and ranges from ten 
to fifteen cents per pound. It is generally superior, 
both in texture and color ; but the indolence of the 
natives, and other causes, will prevent the extensive 
cultivation of that article for many years to come. 

I learned, during my sojourn here, that there were 
many interesting places, further to the east, worthy 
the attention of the stranger — ancient buildings, 
and even cities — some as far east as the island of 
Cozumel. I also heard of ruins in the neighborhood 
of Chi-Chen, which, for reasons that need not be 
mentioned, I concluded to visit first. The owner of 
this hacienda, which is situated about eleven leagues 
to the west-south-west from this city, resides here. 
Having learned my intentions, he not only very gen- 
erously offered me the use of his house, which is near 
to the ruins, but sent his major-domo to have it pre- 
pared for my reception. 

On the morning of the eighth of February, after 
again experiencing the instability and fickleness of 
the natives, and that apathy and indolence prover- 
bially characteristic of them, I succeeded, through 
the aid of my friend, in securing a guide and horse 



102 INDIANS— DEPARTURE — KAUA. 

to conduct us thither. The Indian, who is the travel- 
ler's sole reliance, as previously remarked, in all kinds 
of menial service, can hardly be induced to work, 
unless from the necessity of supplying his own im- 
mediate wants, or under the orders of the alcalde, to 
whom strangers are often obhged to apply for assist- 
ance in compelUng these indolent people to assist 
them. In such a case, the aggrieved party enters his 
complaint to the alcalde, stating that he has endeav- 
ored to hire an Indian, but that he refuses. The 
Indian is then sent for, and his reasons for declining 
heard : if not satisfactory, and they seldom are, he is 
commanded to attend the traveller, and the amount 
of his compensation fixed at the time. The penalty 
for disobedience is imprisonment, which, however, is 
seldom incurred. 

We were upon the road at an early hour, but had 
not proceeded far before we experienced " a norther" 
of rain and wind — a kind of tempest peculiar to these 
regions, and exceedingly annoying. We stopped at 
an Indian's hut for shelter; but the dilapidated state 
of the walls offered so insufficient a protection from 
the elements, that I soon concluded to make headway 
under their fury, and to endeavor to reach the town 
of Kaua, where we expected to find a good retreat. 
The ride over the slippery rocks was slow and haz- 
ardous, but at three o'clock we reached the long 
looked-for place, where we had pictured to ourselves 
so much happiness in the change of clothes and com- 
fortable lodgings. How fallacious, sometimes, are 
our brightest anticipations ! On arriving at the Casa- 



THE CURATE OF KAUA. 103 

real, (the traveller's first hope,) every thing was found 
to be comfortless and forbidding. Our clothes were 
drenched, and the storm continued unabated. 

The curate was the next resort ; he lived close by. 
So, dripping with the rain, and trembling with cold, 
we went to his house, and gave such a shivering 
knock, that it might have denoted our pitiable condi- 
tion without the necessity of words to explain it. 
After some delay, a short, thick-set, gray-headed old 
man came to the door, inquiring, rather grufHy, what 
was wanted 1 A single glance might have told him ; 
but we, however, verbally stated our situation, and 
requested his advice. All we could obtain from him 
in answer was, " Nadie, Nadie !" — with such an em- 
phatic and significant shrug, that I was sure he had 
practised it all his life. I left as I had entered, rather 
coolly. Slightly scanning his room, however, I ob- 
served, in a corner, a table covered with broken pieces 
of cups, the floor filled with old chairs, books, &c., 
and dirt in abundance. I had little difficulty in 
believing the grapes were sour. I pocketed my un 
gracious reception as well as might be, and returned 
through the streets to the Casa-real, partly to see of 
what sort of people ihis pious churl, to whom I was a 
stranger, and who took me not in, was the Coryphe- 
us, and partly to get an idea of the topography of the 
place. I found my home had much improved by my 
absence. I was now in a state of mind to look at it 
with far greater satisfaction than when I left it. We 
built a huge fire upon the floor, warmed ourselves, and 
dried our clothes ; and over our supper, that we had 



104 A SCENE — ROUTE — APPROACH TO CHI-CHEN. 

just bought of the Indians, decided, that it was bett«. 
to submit to the evils that we aheadj had, than " to 
fly to others that we knew not of." 

Only one white man was seen in the place, and 
it is questionable whether he were so all the way 
through. He was the curate, of whose tender mer- 
cies I had received so refreshing a specimen. 

In my walk, I witnessed a scene which was calcu- 
lated to excite both pity and disgust. In front of the 
church were collected some forty or fifty drunken 
Indians, with the log drum and other uncouth instru- 
ments, including their voices, making up with dis- 
cordant and hideous noises a celebration of the last 
day of the masquerade. One of the prime actors in 
this revel eventually became so affected by the liquor 
he had drunk, that he became decidedly mad — stri- 
king about him and raving furiously. His compan- 
ions were obliged to secure him by ropes, and have 
him carried to his hut. 

By eight o'clock on the following day, I was 
mounted and on the route. The roads were some- 
what more passable, though the same rocky surface, 
with occasional rises, was encountered. I observed 
one sugar-plantation on my way ; the cane, which 
was then nearly ready to be cut. looked very well. 

As I approached Chi-Chen, and while not more 
than four or five miles distant, I observed the road- 
side was strewn with columns, large hewn stones, 
&c., overgrown with bushes and long grass. On 
our arrival, at noon, we were most cordially received 
by the major-domo at the hacienda : the horses were 



ARRIVAL AT CHI-CHEN. 105 

taken into good keeping, and I was conducted to 
quarters which had been prepared in anticipation of 
my coming. These were in the church near by, in 
that part which is known to us as the vestry-room ; 
and a very comfortable room I found too for my 
purposes. - 

Tliis church stands upon a rise of land that over- 
looks the country for a considerable distance around, 
embracing the hacienda, and, probably, the most re- 
markable ruins the world has ever known. I found 
the major-domo as unremitting in his attentions as 
if he had been made for me expressly. The eighty 
Indians attached to the hacienda, the house and all 
its contents, as he assured me, were mine. I ought to 
be comfortable and happy. This, and the surrounding 
attractions, offered every facility for repose. There 
never could be found a more delightful place for dream- 
ing life away in a state of irresponsible vegetation 
than the one now presented to me. The climate — 
the example and behavior of Nature about me — al- 
most tempted me to abandon myself to the enchant- 
ment of its charming indolence. 

I cast my travelling equipments aside, and, delight- 
ed with the attentions showered upon me, and which 
I am happy to say were the harbingers of an unre- 
mitting series from my host, I proceeded to the house 
for breakfast. Entering through a well-formed arch, 
built of stone, smooth plastered, I passed into a large 
cattle-yard, which was divided into three parts by 
stone walls, (in this manner the whole premises were 
enclosed,) and ascended a small flight of steps that 



106 THE HACIENDA. '^ 

were carried over a long and well-cemented water- 
ing-trough for the accommodation of cattle, which 
extended the whole length of the front. On reach- 
ing the corridor, the walls and floor presented to me 
a singular appearance. Here was an odd and start- 
ling figure — the god, perhaps, of a forgotten people ; 
and there a beautiful rosette : and even beneath my 
feet were pieces of carved stone and hieroglyphics 
that seemed as though they were striving to make 
me understand the story of their wonderful beginning. 
Within reach of the eye were to be seen the frag- 
ments and ornaments of pillars that once, possibly, 
embellished the palace of a proud cacique, stuck into 
the rude wall of the poor Indian's hut ! Lost in 
meditation, I was soliloquizing to myself upon the 
transitory nature of ah human greatness, when I was 
suddenly aroused by stumbling over a huge — heap 
of beans ! This brought me back at once to the 
world of reality, and to my welcome breakfast. This 
meal was served upon a clean stool ; and, seated in 
a hammock, I made a hearty repast. 

My house was one-story, built of stone from the ru- 
ms in the vicinity, with spacious corridors in front and 
rear. It had but four rooms, which served for an eat- 
ing and sleeping room, granary, &c. At the side of 
the building was a deep well, to which the Indians and 
cattle look for their drink. The water is drawn up by 
means of buckets, attached by twigs to a plaited strap 
of the same material, passed around a cylinder, which 
is turned by a mule. In the revolutions, the buckets 
are emptied into reservoirs ; and thence the water is 



DESCRIPTION OF QUARTERS. 107 

led off by conductors to the different places where it 
IS required. A few vegetables were growing about 
the premises; but little or no cultivation was per- 
ceptible. Fruits of the tropics, here, as elsewhere in 
this province, grow in abundance. I proceeded to the 
ruins almost immediately after my arrival ; but their 
description must be reserved for another chapter. 

The favorable anticipations respecting the com- 
forts of my quarters were fully confirmed. Though the 
furnishing was somewhat unique, still I found myself 
comfortably domiciliated. A huge stone altar stood 
at one extremity of the room, upon which rested a 
cross, with curiously painted devices of sculls, boxes, 
ladders, knives, cocks, temples, flags, &c., the whole 
capped with the expressive initials of INRl. On 
either side stood small boxes, containing dolls, repre- 
senting saints, &c. In the corner of the room were 
sundry pieces of carved wood, exhibiting the figure 
of our Saviour crucified. The sides were filled up 
with tables and platforms, to carry the saints on, in 
the processions. Numerous wooden candlesticks 
were scattered about, hither and yond, intermingled 
with hammocks, riding equipments, &c. 



CHAPTER VI. 

A visit to the Ruins — Reflections — Indian Visiters — Detail of the 
Ruins of Chi-Chen — The Temple — The Pyramid — The Dome 
— The House of the Caciques — General Ruins — Mounds — Foun- 
dations — Characteristics of the Ruins — Materials and Manner of 
Building — The finish — Fresco paintings. , 

It was on the morning of the 10th of February 
that I directed my steps, for the first time, toward 
the ruins of the ancient city of Chi-Chen.* On ar- 
riving in the immediate neighborhood, I was com- 
pelled to cut my way through an ahiiost impermea- 
ble thicket of under-brush, interlaced and bound 
together with strong tendrils and vines ; in which 
labor I was assisted by my diligent aid and compan- 
ion, Jose. I was finally enabled to effect a passage ; 
and, in the course of a few hours, found myself in 
the presence of the ruins which I sought. For five 
days dM I wander up and down among these crum- 
bling monuments of a city which, I hazard little in 
saying, must have been one of the largest the world 
has ever seen. I beheld before me, for a circuit of 
many miles in diameter, the walls of palaces and 

* Chi-Chen signifies, Mouth of a "Well. " Itza," said to be the Maya 
name for one of the old possessors of these ruins, is sometimes added 
by the natives. 



REFLECTIONS — IMPRESSIONS. 109 

temples and pyramids, more or less dilapidated. The 
earth was strewed, as far as the eye could distinguish, 
with columns, some broken and some nearly perfect, 
which seemed. to have been planted there by the ge- 
nius of desolation which presided over this awful 
solitude. Amid these solemn memorials of departed 
generations, who have died and left no marks but 
these, there were no indications of animated exist- 
ence save from the bats, the lizards, and the reptiles 
which now and then emerged from the crevices of 
the tottering walls and crumMing stones that were 
strewed upon the ground at their base. No marks 
of human footsteps, no signs of previous visiters, 
were discernible ; nor is there good reason to believe 
that any person, whose testimony of the fact has 
been given to the world, had ever before broken the 
silence which reigns over these sacred tombs of a 
departed civilization. As I looked about me and in- 
dulged in these reflections, I felt awed into perfect 
silence. To speak then, had been profane. A reve- 
lation from heaven could not have impressed me more 
profoundly with the solemnity of its communication, 
than I was now impressed on finding myself the first, 
probably, of the present generation of civihzed men 
walking the streets of this once mighty city, and 
amid 

" Those temples, palaces, and piles stupendous, 
Of which the very ruins are tremendous." 

For a long time I was so distracted with the multi- 
tude of objects which, crowded upon my mind, that 
[ could take no note of them in detail. It was not 



110 VISIT OF THE INDIANS. 

until some hours had elapsed, that my curiosity was 
sufficiently under control to enable me to examine 
them with any minuteness. The Indians for many 
leagues around, hearing of my arrival, came to visit 
me daily ; but the object of my toil was quite beyond 
their comprehension. They watched my every mo- 
tion, occasionally looking up to each other with an 
air of unfeigned astonishment ; but whether to gather 
an explanation from the faces of their neighbors, or to 
express their contempt for my proceedings, I have per- 
mitted myself to remain in doubt up to this day. Of 
the builders or occupants of these edifices which were 
in ruins about them, they had not the slightest idea ; 
nor did the question seem to have ever occurred to 
them before. After the most careful search, I could 
discover no traditions, no superstitions, nor legends 
of any kind. Time and foreign oppression had pa- 
ralyzed, among this unfortunate people, those organs 
which have been ordained by the God of nations to 
transfer history into tradition. All communication 
with the past here seems to have been cut off. Nor 
did any allusion to their ancestry, or to the former 
occupants of these mighty palaces and monumental 
temples, produce the slightest thrill through the mem- 
ories of even the oldest Indians in the vicinity. De- 
feated in my anticipations from this quarter, I ad- 
dressed myself at once to the only course of proce- 
dure which was likely to give me any solution of the 
solemn mystery. I determined to devote myself to 
a careful examination of these ruins in detail. 




Tnj] 



y^Z 



> 









THE TEMPLE. 



Ill 



DESCRIPTION OF THE RUINS OF CHI-CHEN. 

My first study was made at the ruins of the Tem- 
ple.* These remains consist, as will be seen by 
reference to the engraving, of four distinct walls. I 
entered at an opening in the western angle, which I 
conceived to be the main entrance ; and presumed, 
from the broken walls, ceiUngs, and pillars stiU stand- 
ing, that the opposite end had been the location of the 
shrine or altar. The distance between these two ex- 
tremes is four hundred and fifty feet. The walls stand 
upon an elevated foundation of about sixteen feet. Of 
the entrance, or western end, about one-half remains ; 
the interior showing broken rooms, and ceilings not 
entirely defaced. The exterior is composed of large 
stones, beautifully hewn, and laid in fillet and mould- 
ing work. The opposite, or altar end, consists of 
similar walls, but has two sculptured pillars, much 
defaced by the falling ruins — six feet only remaining 
in view above them. These pillars measure about two 
feet in diameter. The walls are sur- 
rounded with masses of sculptured 
and hewn stone, broken columns, and 
ornaments, which had fallen from the 
walls themselves, and which are cov- 
ered with a rank and luxuriant vege- 
tation, and even with trees, through 
which I was obhged to cut my way 
with my Indian knife. In the rear 

Indian knife and sheath. 

* The names by which I have designated these ruins, are such as 
were suggested to me by their peculiar construction, and the purposes 
for which I supposed them to have been designed. 




112 THE TEMPLE. 

of the pillars are the remains of a room, the back 
ceilings only existing ; sufficient, however, to show 
that they were of rare workmanship. 

The southern, or right-hand wall, as you enter, is 
in the best state of preservation, the highest part of 
which, yet standing, is about fifty feet ; where, also, 
the remains of rooms are still to be seen. The other 
parts, on either side, are about twenty-six feet high, 
two hundred and fifty long, and sixteen thick; and 
about one hundred and thirty apart The interior, 
or inner surface of these walls, is quite perfect, finely 
,^ finished with smooth stone, cut uni- 
-"• formly in squares of about two feet. 
About the centre of these walls, on 
both sides, near the top, are placed 
stone rings, carved from an im- 
mense block, and inserted in the 
wall by a long shaft, and projecting from it about 
four feet. They measure about four feet in diame- 
ter, and two in thickness — the sides beautifully 
carved. 

The extreme ends of the side-walls are about equi- 
distant from those of the shrine and entrance. The 
space intervening is filled up with stones and rubbish 
of walls, showing a connexion in the form of a curve. 
In the space formed by these walls are piles of stones, 
evidently being a part of them ; but there were not 
enough of them, however, to carry out the supposition 
that this vast temple had ever been enclosed. At 
the outer base of the southern wall are the remains 
of a room ; one side of which, with the angular ceil- 




THE TEMPLE. 1 1 3 

ing, is quite perfect ; measuring fourteen feet long and 
six wide The parts remaining are finished with 
sculptured blocks of stone of about due foot square 
representing Indian figures with feather head-dresses, 
armed with bows and arrows, their noses ornamented 
with rings ; carrying in one hand bows and arrows, 
and in the other a musical instrument similar to those 
that are now used by the Indians of the country. 
These figures were interspersed with animals resem- 
bling the crocodile. Near this room I found a square 
pillar, only five feet of which remained above the ru- 
ins. It was carved on all sides with Indian figures, 
as large as life, and apparently in warlike attitudes. 
Fragments of a similar kind were scattered about in 
the vicinity. 

From this room, or base, I passed round, and as- 
cended over vast piles of the crumbling ruins, pulhng 
myself up by the branches of trees, with which they 
are covered, to the top of the wall ; where I found a 
door-way, filled up with stones and rubbish, which I 
removed, and, after much labor, efiected an entrance 
into a room measuring eight by twenty-four feet ; the 
ceiling of which was of the acute-angled arch," and 
perfected by layers of flat stones. The walls were 
finely finished with square blocks of stone, which had 
been richly ornamented. Even yet the heads of In- 
dians, with shields and lances, could be distinguish- 
ed in the coloring. 

The square pillars of the door-way are carved with 
Indians, flowers, borders, and spear-heads ; all of 
which I judged to have once been colored. The lin- 



114 THE TEMPLE. 

tel, which supported the top, is of the zuporte* wood, 
beautifully carved, and in good preservation. One 
of the Indian 4iead-dresses was composed of a cap 
and flowers. 

Immediately in front of the door-way is a portion 
of a column, to which neither cap nor base was at- 
tached. It measured about tliree feet in diameter, 
with its whole surface sculptured ; but it was so ob- 
literated by time, that the lines could not be traced. 
Four feet of its length only could be discovered. It 
was, evidently, imbedded in the ruins to a great depth. 
Numerous blocks of square hewn stones, and others, 
variously and beautifully carved, were lying in con- 
fusion near this column. 

Of the exterior of these walls, a sufficient portion 
still exists to show the fine and elaborate workman- 
ship of the cornices and entablatures, though the lat- 
ter are much broken and defaced. They are com- 
posed of immense blocks of stone, laid with the 
greatest regularity and precision, the facades of 
which are interspersed with flowers, borders, and 
animals. * 

From this portion of the ruins I cut my way, 
through a dense mass of trees and vegetation, to the 
eastern extremity of the walls, the top of which was 
much dilapidated, and obstructed with occasional 
piles of broken and hewn stone. On my return, 1 

* I found the v/ood of the zuporte-tree had been used exclusively in 
these buildings for lintels and thwart-beams, but for no other purpose. 
Upon several of the beams yet remaining, there were elaborate carv- 
ings. This wood is well known in this country for its remarkable du- 
rability and soliditj''. 




'-m^r'k 







bi 



THE PYRAMID. 115 

descended to, and walked along the outside base of 
the wall to the rear of the shrine, and over immense 
blocks of hewn and carved stone, some of which were, 
no doubt, the butments of altar walls; as similar 
blocks were near here appropriated to such pur- 
poses. 

I returned by the outside of the northern wall. 
The whole distance was filled up with heaps of ru- 
ins, overgrown with trees and vines ; through which 
I cleared mj way with the greatest difficulty. 

From the temple I. proceeded to The Pyramid, a 
few rods to the south. It was a majestic pile ; meas- 
uring at its base about five hundred and fifty feet, with 
its sides facing the cardinal points. The angles and 
sides were beautifully laid with stones of an immense 
size, gradually lessening, as the work approached the 
summit or platform. 

On the east and north sides are flights of small 
stone steps, thirtj^ feet wide at the base, and narrowing 
as they ascend. Those of the south and west are 
carried up by gradations resembling steps, each about 
four feet in height, but are more dilapidated than 
those upon which the steps are constructed. 

The bases were piled up with ruins, and over- 
grown with a rank grass and vines ; and it was 
only after great labor that I was enabled to reach the 
side facing the east. Here 1 found two square stones 
of an enormous size, partly buried in the ruins, which 
I cleared away. They were plainly carved, repre- 
senting some monster with wide extended jaws, with 
rows of teeth and a protruding tongue. These stones. 



116 THE PYRAMID. 

from their position, were evidently the finish to the 
base of the steps. 

On this side I ascended the fallen and broken steps, 
through bushes and trees, with which they were 
partly covered to the summit, one hundred feet. 
Here I found a terrace or platform, in the centre of 
which is a square building, one hundred and seventy 
feet at its base, and twenty feet high. The eastern 
side of this supplementary structure contains a room 
twelve by eighteen feet, having two square pillars 
eight feet high, supporting an angular roof upon strong 
beams of zuporte wood, the stone and wood being 
both carved. The sides of the door-ways, and their 
lintels, are of the same material, and ornamented in 
the same style. Fronting this room is a corridor 
supported by two round pillars, three feet in diame- 
ter and four in height, standing upon a stone base of 
two feet ; both of which are surmounted with large 
capitals, hewn or broken in such a manner that no 
architectural design can now be traced. The sides 
of these pillars were wrought with figures and lines, 
which are now quite obliterated. The door-sides 
of these rooms are built of large square stones, similar 
to those of the Temple, with the difference of having 
holes drilled through the inner angles, which were 
worn smooth, and apparently enlarged by use. The 
other sides contain rooms and halls in tolerable pre- 
servation, having the same form of roofs supported 
by zuporte wood. These rooms and halls are plas- 
tered with a superior finisb, and shadowy painted fig- 
ures are still perceptible. The exterior of the build- 



THE PYRAMID. -117 

ing had been built of fine hewn and uniform blocks 
of stone, with entablatures of a superior order, and 
projecting cornices. I could find no access to the 
top but by the pillars, and by cutting steps in the stone 
and mortar of the broken edge of the facade, by which, 
and the aid of bushes, I reached the summit. I found 
it perfectly level, and one of its corners broken and 
tumbling down. The whole was covered with a 
deep soil, in which trees and grass were growing in 
profusion. From this height 1 enjoyed a magnificent 
coup-d'cEil of all the ruins, and the vast plain around 
them. I planted a staflf upon the summit, with a flag 
attached, to float upon the breeze, and after much re- 
flection and speculation, with which 1 do not intend 
to trouble my readers, I made my way down again, 
as surveyors say, " to the place of beginning," at a 
much more rapid rate than I ascended. 

Unlike most similar structures in Egypt, whose 
*' primeval race had run ere antiquity had begun," this 
pyramid does not culminate at the top, as I have al- 
ready observed. Pococke has described one, how- 
ever, at Sak-hara, similar to this, which is the 
only one of which 1 have ever heard. The solidity 
of the structure of the pyramid at Chi-Chen, the har- 
mony and grandeur of its architecture, must impress 
every one with an exalted idea of the mechanical 
skill, and the numbers of those by whom it was origi- 
nally constructed, and hke its elder (?) brethren in 
Egypt, so long as it stands, it must remain a monu- 
mental protest of an oppressed people against the ill- 



118 THE DOME. 

directed ambition and tyranny of those rulers aX 
whose command it was built. 

About the centre of the ruins of the city is the 
DOME, to which I made my way as usual, through 
thick masses of tangled vegetation, by which it was 
surrounded. This building stood upon a double foun- 
dation, as far as I could judge, though I was unable 
to satisfy myself completely, owing to the fallen ru- 
ins which once formed a part of its structure, but 
which now almost concealed its base from the view. 

I found on the east side broken steps, by which I 
ascended to a platform built about thirty feet from 
the base, the sides of which measured each about one 
hundred and twenty-five feet. The walls were con- 
structed of fine hewn stone, beautifully finished at the 
top, and the angles, parts of which had fallen, were 
tastefully curved. 

In the centre of this platform, or terrace, was a 
foundation work, twelve feet high, and in ruins ; the 
four broken sides measuring about fifty feet each, 
upon which is built a square, of a pyramidical form, 
fifty feet high, divided off into rooms, but inaccessi- 
ble, or nearly so, owing to the tottering condition of 
the walls. I could discover, however, that the inside 
walls were colored, and the wood that supported and 
connected the ceilings was in good preservation. In 
the centre of this square is the Dome, a structure of 
beautiful proportions, though partially in ruins. It 
rests%pon a finished foundation, the interior of which 
contains three conic structures, one within the other, 
a space of six feet intervening ; each cone com- 



"^v 




[W] • 



Ji5 
(S) 



[13 



THE HOUSE OF THE CACIQUES. 119 

municating with the others by door-ways, the inner 
one forming the shaft. At the height of about ten 
feet, the cones are united by means of transoms of 
zuporte. Around these cones are evidences of spi- 
ral stairs, leading to the summit. 

There is a plan and description published of a 
" Greenan Temple," which bears an analogy to this 
structure. It was erected upon a spot which, in for- 
mer days, was consecrated to the worship of the sun. 
The name Greenan signifies the place of the sun. 
This singular edifice is found in the county of Done- 
gal, which rises from the southern shore of Lough 
Swilly, Ireland, and is represented to be a most love- 
ly place.* 

Situated about three rods south-west of the ruins 
of the Dome, are those of the House of the Ca- 
ciques. I cut my way through the thick growth of 
small wood to this sublime pile, and by the aid of my 
compass was enabled to reach the east front of the 
building. Here I felled the trees that hid it, and the 
whole front was opened to my view, presenting the 
most strange and incomprehensible pile of architec- 
ture that my eyes ever beheld — elaborate, elegant, stu- 
pendous, yet belonging to no order now known to us. 
The front of this wonderful edifice measures thirty- 
two feet, and its height twenty, extending to the main 
building fifty feet. Over the door-way, which favors 
the Egyptian style of architecture, is a heavy lintel of 
stone, containing two double rows of hieroglyphics, 

* Dublia Penny Journal for 1834 and 1835, pages 349, 350. 



120 THE HOUSE OF THE CACIQUES. 

with a sculptured ornament intervening. Above these 
are the remains of hooks carved in stone, with raised 
lines of drapery running through them ; which, appa- 
rently, have been broken off by the falling of the heavy 
finishing from the top of the building ; over which, 
surrounded by a variety of chaste and beautifully exe- 
cuted borders, encircled within a wreath, is a female 
figure in a sitting posture, in basso-relievo, having a 
head-dress of feathers, cords, and tassels, and the 
neck ornamented. The angles of this building are 
tastefully curved. The ornaments continue around 
the sides, which are divided into two compartments, 
different in their arrangement, though not in style. 
Attached to the angles are large projecting hooks, 
skilfully worked, and perfect rosettes and stars, with 
spears reversed, are put together with the utmost pre- 
cision. 

The ornaments are composed of small square 
blocks of stone, cut to the depth of about one to one 
and a half inches, apparently with the most delicate 
instruments, and inserted by a shaft in the wall. 
The wall is made of large and uniformly square 
blocks of limestone, set in a mortar which appears 
to be as durable as the stone itself. In the ornamen- 
tal borders of this building I could discover but little 
analogy with those known to me. The most strik- 
ing were those of the cornice and entablature, che- 
vron and the cable moulding, which are characteristic 
of the Norman architecture. 

The sides have three door-ways, each opening in- 
to small apartments, which are finished with smooth 



THE HOUSE OF THE CACIQUES. 121 

square blocks of stone ; the floors of the same mate- 
rial, but have been covered with cement, which is 
now broken. The apartments are small, owing to 
the massive walls enclosing them, and the acute-an- 
gled arch, forming the ceiling. The working and 
laying of the stone are as perfect as they could have 
been under the directions of a modern architect. 

Contiguous to this front are two irregular build- 
ings, as represented in the plan. The one on the 
right, situated some twenty-five feet from it, (about 
two feet off" the right line,) has a front of about thir- 
ty-five feet, its sides ten wide, and its height twenty 
feet, containing one room similar in its finish to those 
before described. The front of this building is elabo- 
rately sculptured with rosettes and borders, and orna- 
mental lines ; the rear is formed of finely cut stone, 
now much broken. Near by are numerous heaps of 
hewn and broken stones, sculptured work and pillars. 

The other building on the left, is about eight feel 
from the principal front, measuring twenty-two feet 
in length, thirteen in width, and thirty-six in height. 
The top is quite broken, and has the appearance of 
having been much higher. The agave Americana 
was growing thriftily upon its lev- 
el roof On all sides of this build- 
ing are carved figures, broken 
images, in sitting postures ; ro- 
settes and ornamental borders, laid 
off in compartments ; each com- 
partment having three carved 
hooks on each side and angle. This building con- 




122 THE HOUSE OF THE CACIQUES. 

tains but one room, similar to that on the right. A 
soil has collected on the tops or roofs of these struc- 
tm-es to the depth of three or fom* feet, in which 
trees and other vegetation are flourishing. 

From these portions of the ruins I worked my 
way through the wild thicket, by which they are sur- 
rounded, to the north side of the main building, in 
the centre of which I found a flight of small stone 
steps, overgrown with bushes and vines, which I cut 
away, and made an ascent by pulhng myself up to 
the summit, a distance of forty feet. This platform 
is an oblong square, one hundred by seventy-five feet. 
Here a range of rooms were found, occupying about 
two-thirds of the area; the residue of the space 
probably formed a promenade, which is now filled 
up with crumbling ruins, covered with trees and 
srass. These rooms varied in size ; the smallest of 
which measured six by ten, and the largest six by 
twenty-two feet. 

The most of these rooms were plastered, or cov- 
ered with a fine white cement, some of which was 
still quite perfect. By washing them, I discovered 
fresco paintings; but they were much obliterated. 
The subjects could not be distinguished. On the 
eastern end of these rooms is a hall running trans- 
versely, four feet wide, (having the high angular ceil- 
ing,) one side of which is filled with a variety of 
sculptured work, principally rosettes and borders, 
with rows of small pilasters; having three square 
recesses, and a small room on either side. Over the 
doorways of each are stone lintels three feet square, 



GENERAL RUINS. 123 

carved with hieroglyphics both on the front and un- 
der side. The western end of these rooms is in 
almost total ruins. The northern side has a flight 
of stone steps, but much dilapidated, leading to 
the top ; which, probably, was a look-out place, 
but is now almost in total ruins. The southern 
range of rooms is much broken ; the outside of 
which yet shows the elaborate work with which 
the whole building was finished. 

I vainly endeavored to find access to the interior 
of the main building. I discovered two breaches, 
caused, probably, by the enormous weight of the pile, 
and in these apertures I made excavations ; but could 
not discover any thing like apartments of any de- 
scription. It seemed to be one vast body of stone 
and mortar, kept together by the great solidity of the 
outer wall, which was built in a masterly manner, of 
well-formed materials. The angles were finished off 
with circular blocks of stones, of a large and uniform 
size. 

In a northwest direction from the hacienda, of 
which mention has already been made, are the ruins 
of a house which, owing, probably, to its having been 
constructed without any artificial foundation, is still 
in good preservation. It bears but little resemblance 
to any of its fellows. It contains eighteen rooms, 
the largest of which measures eight by twenty-four 
feet, arranged in double rows, or ante-rooms, and 
lighted only by a single doorway. They all have 
the high angular ceihngs, like the other build- 
ings, which enclose as much space as the rooms 



124 GENERAL RUINS. 

themselves. Those fronting the south are the most 
remarkable, the inner doorways having each a stone 
lintel of an unusually large size, measuring thirty- 
two inches wide, forty-eight long, and twelve deep ; 
having on its inner side a sculptured figure of an In- 
dian in full dress, with cap and feathers, sitting upon 
a cushioned seat, finely worked ; having before him 
a vase containing flowers, with his right hand ex- 
tended over it, his left resting upon the side of the 
cushion — the whole bordered with hieroglyphics. 
The front part of this lintel contains two rows of 
hieroglyphics. 

The building is irregular, having a projection in 
the centre, on one side, of eight feet ; on the other, 
of four feet. It measures one hundred and fifty feet 
long, forty-three wide, and twenty high ; flat roof, 
unbroken, and filled with trees and grass to the whole 
extent. The outside and partition walls have a uni- 
form thickness of three feet. 

Among other ruins contiguous to those already de- 
scribed, I discovered two detached piles about two 
rods apart. They were erected upon foundations 
of about twenty feet in height, which were surround- 
ed and sustained by well-cemented walls of hewn 
stone, with curved angles, measuring two hundred 
and forty feet around them, parts of which were in 
good preservation. We ascended to the platform 
of the one in the best condition, in the centre of 
which stands the ruins of a building measuring twen- 
ty-one by forty feet ; the west front being quite per- 
fect, and shows sculptured work along the whole 



GENERAL RUINS. 125 

extent of its facade. The only accessible part was 
a hall, having a range of hieroglyphics the whole 
length over the doorways, the rooms of which were 
in total ruins. Across these halls were beams of 
wood, creased as if they had been worn by ham- 
mock-ropes. 

In a Une with these ruins and the temple are nu- 
merous mounds, covered with loose stones and vege- 
tation. Between these and the temple are the ruins 
of a mass of foundation-work, about forty feet high ; 
the top of which is covered with piles of crumbling 
stones, and ruins of a structure that once adorned it. 
These stones were of an immense size, some square, 
some round ; and the others either plain, hewn, or 
sculptured. Among these there are two even larger 
than the rest, and similar to those found at the base 
of the Pyramid. Likewise, among these ruins I 
found pillars, beautifully worked with figures and or- 
namental lines ; some of which are standing, appa- 
rently, in their original position. Also, upright blocks, 
six feet high and two thick, of each of which one 
surface was covered with hieroglyphics. Near by 
were six square fragments of pillars, at uniform dis- 
tances apart from each other. These, too, were 
sculptured with ornaments and hieroglyphics. No- 
thing could be seen of these ruins from the base of 
the structure, as they were buried among trees, and 
overgrown with long grass and shrubs. 

Besides those we have attempted to describe, there 
are other ruins of which some remains of walls are 
standing; and contiguous thereto lie immense piles 



126 CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RUINS. 

of worked stone, which, though presenting no new 
feature in the architecture of these buildings, yet 
serve to give a more adequate idea of the size and 
grandeur of this great city. In my walks in the vi- 
cinity, extending miles in every direction, I have seen 
broken walls and mounds, fragments of columns, and 
carved and sculptured stone, some of which were of 
as extraordinary dimensions as any that I have no- 
ticed, deeply imbedded in the soil, and wholly dis- 
connected with any other structure ; though they 
were, without doubt, the remains of splendid and 
extensive edifices. 

The following general characteristics of all these 
ruins may not be thought impertinent to my subject, 
by those who have had the curiosity to follow me 
thus far in the details : — 

They are situated upon a plain of many miles in 
circumference, nearly in the centre of the province; 
upwards of one hundred miles from the sea, and 
away from all water communication. They have 
no apparent order, or laying-out of streets, as the 
plan shows ; but that they bear evidence of a people 
highly skilled in the mechanical arts, as also in a 
portion of the sciences, must be conclusive to my 
readers. 

The buildings which are now in the most perfect 
state of preservation, are the temple, castle, pyramid, 
and other erections, upon a succession of terraces 
composed of nibble, imbedded in mortar, held to- 
gether by finished walls of fine concrete limestone: 
the sides of which are invariably located with refer- 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RUINS. 127 

ence to the four cardinal points, and the principal 
fronts facing the east. 

The walls of the buildings rise perpendicularly, 
generally, to one-half the height, where there are 
entablatures ; above which, to the cornice, the fa- 
cades are laid off in compartments, which are elabo- 
rately ornamented with stone sculpture-work over 
a diamond lattice ground, illustrated with hieroglyph- 
ic figures of various kinds ; the whole interspersed 
with chaste and unique borders, executed with the 
greatest possible skill and precision. The stones are 
cut m parallelopipeds of about twelve inches in length 
and six in breadth ; the interstices filled up of the 
same material of which the terraces are composed. 

The height of these buildings generally is twen- 
ty, and rarely above twenty-five feet. They are lim- 
ited to one story, long and narrow, without windows. 
The rooms are confined to a double range, receiving 
no other light than what passes through the door- 
way. The ceilings are built in the form of an acute- 
angled arch by layers of flat stones, the edges being 
bevelled and carried up to the apex, upon which 
rests a stone that serves as a key. 

The interior of some of the most important of 
these rooms is finished with a beautiful white com- 
position, laid on with the greatest skill. Fresco 
painting in these rooms is also observable, and the 
colors still in good preservation ; sky blue and light 
green being the most prominent. Figures of Indian 
characters can be discerned, but not with sufficient dis- 
tinctness for the subject to be traced. The floors are 



128 



AGAVE AMERICANA. 



covered with a hard composition, whicli shows marks 
of wear. The doorways are nearly a square of about 
seven feet, somewhat resembling the Egyptian ; the 
sides of which are formed of large blocks of hewn 
stone. In some instances the lintels are of the same 
material, with hieroglyphics and lines carved upon 
the outer surfaces. Stone rings, and holes at the 
sides of the doorways, indicate that doors once swung 
upon them. 




AGAVE AMERICANA. 



CHAPTER VII. 

An Arrival — Unexpected Honors — Usurpation of Office — Prices of 
Labor — Indian way of Living — A Sonato — An Incident — Depart- 
ure — Yacaba — Sonato at Tabi — Arrival at Sotuta — "Las Ruinas" 
— A Benediction — Cantamayec — Turn Physician — Successful Prac- 
tice — The Reward of Merit — Route to Teabo — Its Curate — Mam 
— Arrival at Ticul — Description of Ticul — The Church — Curate — 
Market-place — Pretty Women — Convent — Occupations — Health 
— Roads — Sugar Estates — Ruins of Ichmul — Departure — Cross 
the Cordilleras. 

During my stay in the vicinity of Chi-Clien, the 
family of the major-domo were expected to arrive 
from Valladolid. Accordingly, great preparations 
were made to receive them. Arches were thrown 
over the doors, around the corridors of the house,, 
and erected across the road near by. The Indians 
made ready, with their drums and fifes, and with 
other forms of congratulation, to hail the approach- 
ing visiters. At sun-down on Saturday evening the 
*' coaches," so well described by Mr. Stephens in his^ 
travels in Yucatan, were seen coming along the road. 
The music commenced ; the bell of our little habi- 
tation lifted up its noisy tones of gladness, and all 
was in commotion. They were soon at the door, 
and carefully set down by the Indian bearers ; and 
the contents of the carriage, composed of women 

9 



130 UNEXPECTED HONORS. 

and children, crawled out upon their hands and knees 
and hurried into the house. The " coaches" were 
now put aside, and preparations made to have a joy- 
ful evening. In the morning (Sunday) we learned that 
the Indians not only had an evening, as we supposed 
they would have, but a whole night of dancing and 
singing. At daylight they awakened me by coming 
into my quarters, for the purpose of going to matins. 
The bell was ringing, the candles were lighted, the 
little boxes opened, and the altar kissed. It was the 
work of a few minutes, when the bell ceased, the 
candles were extinguished, the little doors closed ; 
and, by the time the last pattering of the sandal-fool- 
ed Indian sounded upon the stone floor as he left the 
house, I was once more asleep. 

This morning, at the usual breakfast hour, I left 
the " vestry" for the house. On the way thither I 
was met by the major-domo, who, I observed, was 
very polite indeed — unusually so. He took my hand 
and led me into the dwelling, where the best ham- 
mock was opened for my reception. I sat down and 
took a swing. Presently the lady of the mansion, 
who had arrived " by coach" the previous evening, 
made her appearance, dropping me one of her sw^eet- 
est courtesies, and passed out at another door. The 
children all followed in slow procession, giving me a 
similar salutation ; until, eventually, I was left alone 
in silent astonishment. During this ceremony the 
Indians were peeping in at the doors, apparently 
awaiting their turn ; and, sure enough, it came. 
They approached in single file, to the number of 



USURPATION OF OFFICE. 13] 

some thirty, and, as they marched past, partially 
knelt, and made all sorts of obeisances ; which were 
acknowledged with as much form as my inexpe- 
rienced greatness could command. I was lost in 
amazement. I began to survey the room in search 
of a mirror, to see what change had taken place in 
my person ; and the fact stared me in the face. It 
was my black suit, that I had put on in the morning, 
(not being on fatigue duty to-day,) that had given 
this first impression of my importance — having, here- 
tofore, only appeared in my working guise before 
them. In my future rambles, I shall benefit by my 
experience in this little affair ; and would recommend 
it to the careful consideration of all who may here- 
after travel in these parts. After breakfast I stepped 
aside, and examined the coat more particularly, to 
ascertain how long its newly discovered virtues might 
be expected to abide with it. I was dehghted to find 
that it would probably supply me with all the dig- 
nity I should require during my residence in the 
country. 

This (Sunday) has been a lovely day, so far as 
nature was concerned. Nothing but the continua- 
tion of the dancing and the wild music, interrupted 
at times by the revelry of drunken Indians, could be 
heard, except the services at the church by the same 
actors ! At vespers, the principal officiate was so 
drunk that he dropped the incense-cup, and broke it 
all to pieces. Unfortunately for his dignity, it fell 
upon my foot ; whereat I was so vexed, that I trun- 
dled the old reprobate most unceremoniously out of 



132 PRICES or LABOR. 

the sanctuary, and performed the ceremonies myself, 
as well as I knew how, and dismissed the congrega- 
tion. If the pope has any gratitude he will send me 
a cardinal's hat, at least, for this interference. 

There are about eighty Indians attached to this 
estate. Their wages is one dollar per month and a 
sack of corn, which contains about two bushels, 
worth here from thirty-seven and a half to fifty cents 
per sack ; but the amount of wages varies in different 
parts of the country. In some sections laborers are 
employed by the job — so much for cutting down 
wood, the work being measured out; so much for 
planting an acre ; and in the same way for taking in 
the crops, &c., the prices of which are regulated by 
custom ; but they are all under as abject bondage at 
present as if they had been born slaves. Their wa- 
ges, low as they are — owing to the few wants of these 
people — more than cover their necessary expenses; 
but the taxes, and the feasts of the church, absorb 
all the surplus. I have known an Indian to expend 
his month's pay, and all he was possessed of besides, 
in the purchase of candles and trinkets for a single 
festival day ; the former to burn before, and the lat- 
ter to decorate, his tutelar saint. 

They are permitted to build their huts on the lauds 
of the estate without cost. Among those I visited, 
the best were miserable enough ; consisting merely 
of poles driven perpendicularly into the ground, to 
support a thatched roof. Although plenty of soil is 
allowed them, they cultivate nothing for themselves 



THE SONATO. 



133 



Everything around them indicates indolence and 
squalid poverty. 

In my rambles in the neighborhood of the hacien- 
da, I discovered, at about the distance of a mile, a 
sonata, situated in a dell of the most romantic ap- 
pearance ; the sides, rising to the height of a hun- 
dred feet, are circular, and are formed of broken and 
cragged rocks, overgrown with trees, bushes, and 
vines. The water is about ten fathoms deep, clear 
and good ; and always remains without fluctuation 
except once or twice a year, in seasons of heavy 
rains or extreme drought. There appears to be but 
one place at the margin where the water is accessi- 
ble. A part of a stone wall is here perceptible, and 
also steps beneath the surface. Less romantic places 
than this have made more than one chapter in the 
mythology of the ancient Greeks. 

While I was thinking that this might be the scene 
where many a tender tale of love may have been 
whispered, a thousand years ago, by the simple swain 
and artless damsel who dwelt near its margin — that 
here the proud cacique may once have loitered with 
the lovely mistress of his affections — while I was 
meditating over the probability, the almost certainty 
of these things, something of a parallel nature was, 
in reality, transpiring in my immediate vicinity. My 
right-hand man, Jose, whose peculiar propensity has 
before been hinted at, was pouring out his heart to 
a beautiful Indian girl a few rods distant, and she 
was listening to his story of love with all the atten- 
tion that the most faithful passion could deserve. 



134 AN INCIDENT — DEPARTURE FROM CHI-CHEN. 

They were not, however, permitted to dream them- 
selves into an undisturbed state of happiness. It is 
said that love is jealous as well as watchful. They 
had been observed by a rival, who suddenly breaking 
in upon their stolen moments, threatened total anni- 
hilation to all their blissful anticipations. Jose man- 
fully contended for his rights ; but, had I not come 
up at the critical instant, there is no telling to what 
extent the rupture might have been carried. My 
presence, however, soon allayed the excitement. It 
was not difficult to discern that Jose was the prefer- 
red one. I learned from him that the fair cause of his 
trouble was from the neighborhood of Merida, an old 
acquaintance ; and that pledges of love had long since 
been exchanged between them ; but circumstances 
had removed her from his vicinity, he knew not 
whither, until the present accidental meeting had 
again thrown them into each other's arms. Such 
being the case, 1 promised to intercede with the ma- 
jor-domo in their behalf, which I subsequently did, 
but without the entire success that I had anticipated. 
Having concluded my visit at Chi-Chen, and my 
curiosity being fully satisfied, I was ready at an early 
hour to continue my journey westward. The Indi- 
ans, to the number of fifty or sixty, had collected to 
witness our departure. They had been very civil to 
us during our stay ; and, to express our acknowledg- 
ments, I knew no better way than to make them a 
few presents, with which they appeared to be highly 
pleased. We took leave of our kind host and host- 
ess with regret. They had taken great pains to make 



YAC ABA— CHARACTERISTIC. 135 

my stay comfortable among them, and I shall always 
remember them with gratitude. By eight o'clock we 
were out of sight of castles and palaces, and buried 
in the thick woods of the country. Our route lay 
over a narrow stony path, through the small Indian 
town of Piste to Yacaba — a distance of about nine 
leagues ; where we arrived at two o'clock, rode up 
to the Casa-real, and dismounted in the square. The 
church occupied one side of it, and public offices and 
dwellings the others. The square is spacious, and 
comprises nearly the whole town. Many of the houses 
are uninhabited and going to ruin. It had rained hea- 
vily during the morning, and the rooms of the Casa- 
real, as usual, did not present a very favorable aspect 
to the wet and fatigued traveller. However, we got 
our horses taken care of, and succeeded in obtaining 
a tolerable breakfast. By five o'clock the inhabitants 
began to leave their hammocks, and made their way 
to the Casa-real, knowing, apparently, by instinct, or 
some faculty peculiar to the inhabitants of small 
towns, that strangers had arrived. In this instance, 
we were glad to see them ; for we were sadly in want 
of a dry place to rest in. They offered to do every 
thing for us. We told them our wants, by showing 
them the rooms of the Casa-real. They promised 
to get others, appeared glad to serve us, and treated 
us with great politeness. Off they started, as we sup- 
posed, to fit us out for the night ; and that is the last 
we ever saw of them. This is mentioned merely to 
show a marked characteristic of the people. A stran- 



136 TABI— SONATO. 

ger, with a sanguine temperament, in this province, 
must suffer ! 

We were obliged, as usual, to depend upon our- 
selves for quarters ; and, after much research, and dis- 
turbing the quiet of many poor old women in their 
hammocks, we found a store-house, in which we be- 
came somewhat comfortably accommodated for the 
night. Shortly after sunrise, on the following morn- 
ing, we continued our journey to Tabi, a distance of 
two leagues. At this place we spent an hour in vis- 
iting a sonato, one of the most celebrated in the coun- 
try. It had been the scene of some miracle, the par- 
ticulars of which we were unable to learn, and is 
therefore held in much reverence by the Indians. 
The circumference is about fifty feet, and it is about 
seventy to the surface of the water from the top of the 
ground. The water is said to be about a hundred 
feet deep, and has a subterraneous channel, the extent 
of which is unknown. A small chapel is erected 
upon its border. In the absence of all rivers in this 
country, these watering-places, or natural wells, 
seem to be one of the most striking gifts of God's 
beneficence. Near this chapel is a tree of the mam- 
mee species, peculiar to the province, of extraor- 
dinary dimensions, growing, apparently, out of a sohd 
rock. 

This town is principally inhabited by Indians. 
The few whites here, as is usual in many other places, 
principally maintain themselves by selling small arti- 
cles, cotton cloth, and liquors to the Indians. Save 
a church, there were no public buildings in the place. 



SOTUTA — THE CURATE — « L AS RUINAS." 137 

No animation or purpose was to be seen among these 
listless Indians, who in that, as in other particulars, 
resembled all of their race whom I had yet seen. 

We continued our journey on to Sotuta, a distance 
of three leagues, where we arrived at eleven o'clock, 
over a good road, upon which the Indians were at 
that time engaged in working out their road-tax. 

This is a pleasant town, having a fine square, neat- 
ly laid out, with much regularity, and well built. 
While we were at breakfast, seated on a long wood- 
en bench (the usual table of the Casa-real) saddle- 
wise, with our customary company, ten to twenty In- 
dians squatted (after their manner) about us, we were 
waited upon by the curious of the place. They wish- 
ed to know who we were, and where we were 
going? To which we gave satisfactory answers. 
They offered us their best services, as usual, and left 
us. Soon after they left, the curate called, and was 
so kind as to offer us his house, and all the appurte- 
nances thereto appertaining, of which, however, ow- 
ing to our limited stay, I did not think it worth my 
while to accept. Knowing that I wished to see all 
that was interesting in his curacy, he, the dear soul, 
carried me a league, through a burning sun, to see 
what he called " las ruinas." I walked to them cheer- 
fully enough, for I anticipated something of an ex- 
citing nature. On reaching them, they proved to be 
merely the walls of a badly built house, which had 
pertained to a hacienda, and which was not over fif- 
ty years of age. When he first called my attention to 
them, I thought he was playing off a practical joke ; 



138 BENEDICTION — CANTAMAYEC. 

but it was not so ; it was a sincere desire to please 
Short-sighted mortal ! his day-dreams had never been 
disturbed by a knowledge of the pyramids, palaces, 
and castles of Chi-Chen ! By a visit to the convent, 
however, on my return, I was fully indemnified for 
all my disappointment, by the good things which ap- 
pear always to concentrate in these places ; and I 
soon forgot our fatiguing walk to " las ruinas," by a 
swing in the hammock. 

While I was here enjoying myself, during the heat 
of the day, an Indian brought in a bundle, containing 
a shroud, intended for some deceased person. The 
curate apologized ; ordered his robes, in which he 
was soon enveloped ; had a candle lighted, to which 
was affixed a silver cross ; gave it to me to hold ; 
took his book, and read over a benediction, occa- 
sionally sprinkling water upon the cloth intended for 
the dead. This was done in an off-hand style, and 
the Indian was quickly dismissed. 

It was with some difficulty that I was enabled to 
tear myself away from my kind host ; and it was 
late before we started for Cantamayec, four leagues 
distant, where we intended to sleep. Before sun- 
down, however, we bade him adieu, and passing over 
a rocky path through the woods, we arrived at our 
stopping-place at nine o'clock. 

Little had we anticipated the cool reception we 
were doomed to meet, or we should have remained 
with our reverend friend of Sotuta. On reaching the 
Casa-real of this most miserable town, we found it 
occupied by half-breeds and Indians, making them- 



A DILEMMA. 139 

selves merry and drunk, upon the occasion offered 
them by some one of the innumerable feast-days with 
which their calendar is crowded. The prospect for 
us, we observed on dismounting, was not very flatter- 
ing. We stated to them that we were travellers ; 
and wished a privilege with them at the Casa-reai 
for the night, and at the same time offered them mo- 
ney, to remunerate them for their aid in procuring 
food for ourselves and horses ; but we could obtain 
nothing. Their reply was, that the Casa-real and 
its yards were full, and that there was no food or 
water to be had. This was bringing affairs to a crisis. 
The prospect was that we were to " hang out" during 
the night. Remonstrance was thought of; but expe- 
rience had long since taught me that remonstrance 
with these people was vain. A man in the crowd 
was observed with trousers on; and with him I 
thought something might be done, but I was made to 
perceive that trousers are only the uniform, but not 
an evidence of civilization. A squally night was be 
fore me, and no prospect of a shelter. I thought of 
trying "the plenipo" — a la Stephens — but my star- 
red and striped blanket was in tatters, and I had no 
" half dollars." Sunken as I was in the abyss of 
trouble, my magical coat never occurred to me. At 
a complete loss what to do, we walked about the 
town, in anticipation of some favorable accident, fol- 
lowed by a concourse of idle Indians. We M'ere 
about returning to our horses in despair, when, pass- 
ing a hut, with its only door half opened, we saw an 
old woman lying in her hammock, sick. I thought of 



140 PHYSICIAN — SUCCESSFUL PRACTICE. 

the " medico." With this ray of hope to encourage 
me, I entered, blessing the house and its inmates, 
with the best Latin I could muster, A dim light was 
burning in a calabash, which stood in the corner. In 
the centre of the room were some half-extinguished 
embers, with the few cooking utensils which the cui- 
sine of this country require, being near them. A girl 
was engaged in making some cooling drink for the 
invalid ; and, upon the whole, I felt that my pros- 
pects were looking up. So I drew up a stool to the 
side of the hammock, and looked the " medico" at 
the invalid, to the best of my abilities. The Indi- 
ans from without were collecting around ; I talked 
in a very deliberate tone, as if just bursting with a 
plethora of science, felt the pulse, and examined the 
tongue ! At this stage of proceedings, an Indian 
bent down to my ear, and asked, in a low voice, if 
he should go for food for our horses ? I graciously 
consented. I showed my pocket compass, the near- 
est approach to a surgical instrument of any thing I 
had about me, made a few more learned remarks 
upon the pathogenetic and therapeutic properties of 
matter, and advised the patient to bathe her feet and 
hold her tongue. 

The fire upon the floor was rekindled ; eggs and 
tortillas were soon placed before us, and I venture to 
say, that no catechumen in medicine ever received 
his first professional fee with more delight, than I did 
mine on this occasion. The patient declared her- 
self to be much better. So was I. I soon began to 
feel myself " at home." Jose made ready our ham- 



SEARCH FOR TEABO. 141 

mocks, drove the intruding Indians out of the house, 
and, in a few moments, we buried all our cares and 
troubles in deep and undisturbed slumbers. 

Awaking early in the morning, I found the patient 
much improved, if I might be permitted to judge from 
her nasal achievements; and, thinking it would be 
a pity to disturb her, I determined not to wait for 
any farther fee, but directed Jose silently to fold our 
hammocks, and putting them under our arms, we left 
the premises, and made our way to where our horses 
were quartered. Every thing being ready, we were 
soon in the saddle, and, without much regret, left the 
town ; but not without a sincere wish that the pa- 
tient, whose comfort had been so unexpectedly iden- 
tified with mine, might rapidly recover. 

We were now on the road to Teabo, a distance 
of about seven leagues, where we arrived at two 
o'clock in the afternoon. We experienced no little 
difficulty in finding the town, owing to the numerous 
paths that presented themselves leading to the haci- 
endas and ranch OS in the vicinity, and owing to the 
town being almost buried among the small trees and 
bushes by which it was surrounded. Our confusion 
was ten times more confounded by the directions of 
the Indians; and, finally, we were obliged to have 
recourse to the pocket-compass. This is an article 
with which every tourist in untravelled countries 
should provide himself. He will find it an invalu- 
able guide when he is alone ; and it will prove as 
efficacious as one ghost, at least, in controlling the 
services of these superstitious people. 



142 THE CURATE. 

The Casa-real being occupied by muleteers, I got 
permission of the poUte owner of a store near by 
to deposite our trappings, and to make my toilet in 
one corner of his establishment. For this purpose 
a heap of corn was removed, which so facilitated my 
preparations, that I was soon in a condition to pay 
my respects to the town. After I had made some 
examination of it, however, I concluded that my time 
had been wasted. It was, like all the others, as dull 
and inanimate as the rocks upon which it stood. As 
I had always discovered, if there were any thing of 
interest in these places, it radiated from the curate, 
I bent my steps, in the evening, towards his house. 
He was a fatherly-looking old gentleman, received 
me very kindly, ordered the best room in the convent 
to be made ready for my reception, and a good sup 
per to be prepared. He talked much of his curacy, 
and seemed to be devoted to the people, as they evi 
dently were to him. Good order was observable 
about his house, which is rarely to be met with in 
the like places. He showed me his library, which 
was composed of about twenty volumes of Latin 
and Spanish books. After passing a very pleasant 
evening with this good old man, I bade him adieu 
and retired to my room, which w^as decorated, or fur- 
nished rather, on all sides, with the symbols of the 
church, such as crosses, sculls, images, &c. ; but which 
did not, so far as I could discover, materially affect 
my repose during the night. 

Early in the morning, after taking chocolate, which 
my kind host had provided, we were mounted and 



MANI — ARRIVAL AT TICUL. 143 

on our way to Ticul, We passed through a num- 
ber of small towns, one of which was Mani, about 
three leagues from Teabo, and formerly the capital 
of the province. The only fact connected with the 
history of this place, of interest to the traveller, is one 
of a character kindred to that which has given an 
infamous immortality to the Calif Omar, and, in later 
days, to Cardinal Ximenes ; a man who lived in an 
age, and professed a religion, which should have 
taught him better. This was the place, as I learned 
while at Merida, where the ancient history of the 
Maya people was destroyed, by order of a Franciscan 
monk named Landa. These books were thought by 
the inquisitor to contain some heretical matters; and, 
with a bigotry and stupidity which we can now hard- 
ly allude to in terms sufficiently moderate to be print- 
ed, he directed those books to be taken out and burnt 
in the public square. This history was written in 
hieroglyphical characters, and its destruction has 
doubtless deprived posterity of the key to the whole 
history of the Maya nation. 

We arrived at Ticul after a fatiguing ride, under 
a hot sun, at half past two o'clock in the afternoon, 
on Saturday, the 19th of February. Our coming was 
anticipated, and good apartments were prepared for 
us in the convent, where we were comfortably ac- 
commodated, and fully resolved to remain until we 
had become thoroughly recruited. Jose was about 
worn out, and the horses' feet were in a sad condi- 
tion. My trousers were torn, my boots were cut up, 
and my altogether ruinous condition was more in 



144 RAMBLES IN TICUL. 

sympathy with the country which 1 was visiting, 
than accorded with my taste or my comfort. Tn this 
condition, I thought it would be no more than an act 
of prudence to lie by for a few days to repair dam- 
ages. I amused myself meantime in strolling about 
the town, which I found decidedly pleasant. It had 
a life and activity about it that I had not before seen 
for a long time. I saw the sun set this evening be- 
hind the Cordilleras ; it was a beautiful and imposing 
sight. 

This town is large and well built, though not very 
compact ; enough so, however, to make it a very de- 
sirable place of residence. It is tow^n and country, 
beautifully intermingled. It has a fine open square, 
church, and market-place, and several stores. 

The church, occupying one corner of the square, 
is built in the form of a cross, and has a well-pro- 
portioned dome to set it off. The mass of devotees 
that assemble here daily are decently dressed and 
good-looking. The curate is a middle-aged man, 
who has read much, and figured considerably in the 
late political revolutions of the province ; and is. 
probabl}^ more conversant with the history of his 
country than any man in it. Some of the most in- 
teresting ruins of the country ai€ wltliin his curacy, 
and he was the only person I encountered in the 
country who had devoted much time to an examina- 
tion of them. He received me very cordially, and 
was exceedingly kind and attentive during my stay. 

The market-place is small ; but it is well supplied, 
and kept clean. It was rather a strange sight to me 



PECULIARITIES OF TICUL. 145 

to see cattle butchered in the open streets and pubHc 
thoroughfares of the town, as is the custom here. 

This town enjoys a notoriety for its pretty Mesti- 
zas, or half-breed Indian women ; which, as far as I 
am able to judge, it justly deserves. They are well 
formed, and have regular features and brunette com- 
plexions, which are in fine contrast with their long 
black hair and simple loose dress. Their dresses are 
always neat, and hang from the shoulders without 
being girded at the waist. They are trimmed off by 
the fair hands of the w^earers with ornamental bor- 
ders, &c., &c. 

The convent in the rear of, and immediately ad- 
Joining the church, is an immense pile of stone, 
built in 1624, and was formerly inhabited by monks 
of the order of St. Francis. The only habitable part 
of this vast structure, at present, is occupied by the 
curate, the padre, and myself. A suite of three rooms 
were given to me ; but, in my humble way, I made 
two suffice. Its blackened walls, its spacious halls 
and corridors, dilapidated casements, its numerous 
squares and gardens, all going to ruin, presented the 
same melancholy picture that is to be seen in all the 
principal towns in the province. 

A large portion of the inhabitants are Mestizos, 
who are orderly and well to do in the world. Their 
houses, in the borders of the town, are comfortable; 
and the wide-spreading palm, growing near, gives to 
them quite a picturesque appearance. They manu- 
facture hats for exportation, and earthenware for 
home use. 

10 



146 RUINS OF ICHMUL. 

The health of the town is good. This maybe at- 
tributed not only to the climate, but to the uniform tem- 
perance of these people, both in eating and drinking. 

The roads to and from the principal towns are 
kept in excellent order. Portions of them, in the 
immediate vicinity, with the low stone walls at 
the sides, covered with vegetation, resemble those of 
England. 

In the adjoining districts, there are several large 
sugar plantations. Near the town of Tekax, consid- 
erable attention is paid to the cultivation of sugar, 
which is raised entirely for domestic consumption. 

The ruins of Ichmul are situated about a half 
league north of the town of Ticul. The padre, with, 
a few friends, accompanied me to visit them. What 
was my surprise, on arriving at this place, to observe 
a succession of mounds, or tumuli, extending many 
miles around, in every direction, as far as the eye 
could reach — the sepulchres, perhaps, of millions ! 
who, in their turn, possibly, have looked upon simi- 
lar appearances, that exist no longer, with the same 
thoughts as we give utterance to in beholding these : 
The grounds are now covered with grass and trees 
— a range for cattle ! Some of these mounds were 
forty feet high. Several of them had been opened 
by the direction and under the superintendence of 
the curate, and within were found rooms, and skele- 
tons deposited in a sitting posture, with small pots 
at their feet, which was the position in which the an- 
cient Mexicans were in the habit of burying their 
dead. The walls and ceilings were quite perfect. 



DEPARTURE FROM TICUL. 147 

Large pieces of hewn stone and pillars were lying 
scattered around these places, affording ground for 
the presumption that they were formerly portions of 
a once great and populous city. 

On our return with the padre, we dismounted at 
his house ; our horses were led through it, and my- 
self into it, where, seated in a hammock, I partook 
of refreshments, and spent a very pleasant hour with 
my kind cicerone. I then took my leave, returned 
to the convent, rode through the long hall, and dis- 
mounted at my parlor door. 

February 23d, at seven o'clock in the morning, 1 
bade adieu to my good friends of Ticul, and we con- 
tinued our journey. It was a delightful morning; 
our route was along the foot and across the Cordil- 
leras ; which we ascended by a narrow, rough, and 
cragged pass. We were obliged to dismount shortly 
after we commenced the rise, as the steep and slip- 
pery rocks make it not only difficult but hazardous, 
and we were glad to lead our horses over in safety. 
The prospect from the summit was beautiful and pic- 
turesque. Our descent was rather more easy and 
rapid; and we reached the town of Nohcacab, three 
leagues distant, at half past eight o'clock. Here 
we took a hasty breakfast, procured a guide, and 
were again on the road to Kabbah, distant three 
leagues, for the purpose of looking at the ruins which 
we learned were to be seen at this place. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

The Ruins of Kahbah — Those of Zayi — Scattered Ruins — Church at 
Nohcacab — The Padre — The Town — Departure for Uxraal — Ar- 
rival at the Hacienda — Quarters and Arrangements — The Scenery 

— General Character of the Ruins of Uxmal — The Governor's House 

— The Nuns' House — The Pyramid — Other Remains — Pyramids 
Walls, and Mounds — Reservoir — Moonlight. 

I FIRST entered upon the ruins of Kahbah from the 
main road leading from Nohcacab to Bolen-Chen- 
Ticul. On the west side I foiind fragments of build- 
ings, walls, &c., scattered about, principally upon a 
low range of hills. No perfect rooms were visible. 
Parts of walls and ceilings were seen, and the ground 
about covered up with rubbish, mingled with broken 
pillars, sculptured work, &c. In the building farthest 
from the road, (which is in the best preservation of 
any on the west side,) we observed two square pil- 
lars, which had been taken from the door-way, and 
placed against the ceiling of the room, by some trav- 
eller, no doubt, who intended to present them to the 
world. They are about six feet high and two wide ; 
the front facings of which are deeply cut, represent- 
ing a cacique, or other dignitary, in full dress, (appa- 
rently a rich Indian costume,) with a profusion of 
feathers in his head-dress. He is represented with 



RUINS OF KAHBAH. 149 

his arms uplifted, holding a whip ; a boy before him 
in a kneeling position, with his hands extended in 
supplication ; underneath are hieroglyphics. The 
room is small, with the ceiling slightly curved ; dif- 
fering, in this particular, from those of Chi-Chen. 

The ruins on the east side of the road comprise 
mainly three buildings, and an immense pile of stone 
in a pyramidical form, and in a much better state of 
preservation than those on the opposite side. These 
buildings are elevated upon a succession of terraces, 
which I ascended by a double flight of broken steps, 
to a square formed in front of each ; the sides of which 
show the existence of walls now nearly levelled, and 
overgrown with trees and vegetation. Sufficient, 
however, is remaining of two buildings to indicate a 
similarity with those of the opposite side. The 
fronts measure about one himdred feet, the facades 
of which are ornamented with the most elaborate and 
skilful work, though now much broken and defaced. 
The carvings are somewhat similar to those of Chi- 
Chen ; but they are much smaller, and do not display 
•as much order in the arrangement. Broken columns, 
of unusual sizes, are to be seen a short distance from 
these buildings, evidently moved from their original 
positions. 

The door-step of the principal inner room is elabo- 
rately sculptured, and entirely different from any thing 
1 have observed in other places. In the centre of one 
of these squares, foundation walls are to be seen, 
which have been recently excavated. They, proba- 
bly, were pedestals. These structures stand, uni- 



150 ROUTE TO ZAYI. 

formly, about four rods apart, on a line ; and all have 
mounds and a succession of broken walls contiguous 
to them 

A few rods north of these buildings is a mass of 
broken stones, piled together in the shape of a pyra- 
mid, at the summit of which, to the height of one 
hundred and twenty-five feet, are still to be found the 
remains of the broken walls of an edifice. It is lo- 
cated, with reference to the cardinal points, like the 
pyramid of Chi-Chen, and was probably used for 
the same purposes, (whatever those might have been,) 
though the style of the work is not similar or equal 
to it. Its sides, at the base, measure five hundred 
feet, and are mostly bare ; the loose stones barely 
maintain their form. The space occupied by these 
ruins cannot be less than a mile square. 

On the 24th of February, at sunrise, we were again 
in the saddle, passing over the same road as yester- 
day, and following a guide, with his pack of maza 
and water, the Yucatan " staff of life," in pursuit of 
other ruins, situated about two and a half leagues 
south-east of those at Kabbah. The road was good, 
and its direction through several ranchos. Halting 
at one of these, under a shed of boughs, erected in 
front of a rudely built Indian church, we took oui 
breakfast. The variety and quality of our repast were 
not such as to detain us long, and we were soon upon 
our route, through a hilly country to Zayi. I found 
my way to the principal ruin with little difficulty, it 
having been recently visited, as I learned from the 
natives, by Mr. Stephens, to whose recent labors I 



RUINS OF ZAYI. 151 

was much indebted in approaching the object of my 
search; the usual impediments of trees and wild 
thickets, by which it was surrounded, having been 
removed. The Ruins of Zayi are situated in the 
midst of a succession of beautiful hills, forming around 
them, on every side, an enchantiijg landscape. 

The principal one is composed of a single struc- 
ture, an immense pile, facing the south, and standing 
upon a slight natural elevation. The first founda- 
tion is now so broken that its original form cannot 
be fully determined ; but it probably was that of a 
parallelogram. Its front wall shows the remains of 
rooms and ceilings, with occasional pillars, which, no 
doubt, supported the corridors. The height of this 
wall is about twenty feet, and, as near as I was able 
to measure around its base, (owing to the accumula- 
tion of ruins,) it was ascertained to be two hundred 
and sixty-eight feet long, and one hundred and six- 
teen wide. 

In the centre of this foundation stands the main 
building, the western half only remaining, with a por- 
tion of the steps, outside, leading to the top. This 
part shows a succession of corridors, occupying the 
whole front, each supported by two pillars, with plain 
square caps and plinths, and intervening spaces, fill- 
ed with rows of small ornamented pillars. In the 
rear of these corridors are rooms of small dimensions 
and angular ceilings, without any light except that 
which the front affords. Over these corridors, or pil- 
lars, is a fine moulding finish, its angle ornamented 
with a hook similar to those of Chi-Chen. Above 



152 



SCATTERED RUINS. 



this moulding is a finish of small plain round pillars, 
or standards, interspersed with squares of fine orna- 
mental carvings ; the centre of the fa9ade showing 
the remains of more elaborate work, concentrated 
within a border, the arrangement of which is lost. 
There is an evident analogy existing between these 
ornaments and those of Kabbah, but order is less 
apparent. I could discover no resemblance whatever 
to those of Chi-Chen. 

Over these rooms of the main building is another 
terrace, or foundation, in the centre of which is a 
building in similar ruins to those under it ; having, 
also, broken steps leading to the top. It stands upon 
a foundation, apparently, of six to eight feet in height 
occupying about two-thirds of the area ; the residue, 
probably, forming a promenade. There are three 
doorways yet remaining, the lintels and sides-of which 
are broken, and which have caused the walls above 
to fall down. The walls of this part of the edifice 
are constructed of hewn stone, without any signs ot 
ornament. A plain finished moulding runs through 
the centre ; portions of the cornice still remain, with 
three or four pieces of flat projecting stones, which 
formed a part of the top finish. 

The whole extent of the rear is covered with con- 
fused piles of ruins, overgrown with trees. Near by 
these are fragments of walls and rooms, with a few 
ornaments yet remaining about them. Some of the 
rooms appear to have been single, and apart from all 
other buildings. There are also various mounds in 
the vicinity. 



NOHCACAB. 153 

A few rods south are the remains of a single high 
wall, with numerous square apertures, like pigeon- 
holes. Its foundation is elevated ; around which the 
broken walls and ceilings are to be seen. The sum- 
mits of the neighboring hills are capped with gray 
broken walls for many miles around. I discovered 
no hieroglyphics or paintings of any kind ; neither 
the extraordinary skill displayed in the ornamental 
carvings, as at Chi-Chen. 

On my route to these ruins I made digressions 
from the road, and found, on all sides, numerous re- 
mains of walls and ceilings ; also, mounds and small 
pyramids, covered with the wild vegetation of the 
country. My time being limited to a day, I left these 
interesting reminiscences of an unknown people un- 
der the cover of night, and returned, wearied with 
my day's labor, to Nohcacab. 

The following morning I visited the church with 
the padre. It is a large, plain building, with cum- 
brous walls. The stone being nearly white, at a dis- 
tance gave it the appearance of a Massachusetts 
cotton-factory. This church is very poor ; and its 
shrines, like many others in the country, are in bar- 
barous taste. As the padre pulled the strings, to 
throw aside the curtains and show the figures, my 
simplicity could not avoid thinking of a puppet- 
show ; and more especially so on account of a figure 
that had attracted my attention on entering from the 
cloisters, dressed in a swallow-tail coat and striped 
trousers, and intended, probably, to represent some 
one of the apostolic brotherhood. 



154 DEPARTURE FOR UXMAL. 

The church stands upon an elevation; and, troui 
the roof, is a charming prospect of the surrounding 
country. Attached to the building, at one corner, is 
a high wall, forming an enclosure, in which are de - 
posited the bones of all the dead that had been in- 
terred in the body of the church. The tops of the 
walls are set off with sculls ! 

The padre is a young man, quite sociable, and he 
occasionally preaches. When this happens, it is in 
the Maya language. 

The town is small, and has nothing particularly to 
recommend it to the stranger. It is built upon a 
shelving rock, a customary site for towns in this pro- 
vince. 

At nine o'clock we were again in our saddles for 
Uxmal,* distant about four leagues. I saw at a dis- 
tance the ruins of Nohpat ; but my haste to reach 
Uxmal would not allow us to stop. I passed several 
fine estates on the way before reaching that place. 
The road was a path cut through the bushes, but easy 
to travel. I arrived at noon at the hacienda owned 
by a gentleman at Merida, before mentioned, who 
kindly had furnished me with a letter to his major- 
domo ; which gave me every facility required to visit 
the extraordinary ruins in the vicinity. The house 
of the hacienda had just gone through a complete 
repair and cleaning, and held out many inducements 
for me to make my quarters there ; but, preferring to 
be near to the place where I intended to spend my 

* Uxmal signifies " Times past." 



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ARRIVAL. 155 

time, I ordered our trappings to be removed to the 
ruins, distant about one mile, whither I followed. 
I was at a loss which of the splendid structures to 
appropriate to my use ; but the governor's house 
had the appearance of being more tenable than all 
the rest, or perhaps more conspicuous. I chose that 
for my future place of residence, so I wended my 
way towards it — passing a grand and lofty pyramid 
on the right — and scrambled up the broken steps of 
the southeast angle of my prospective domicil. The 
governor not being at home, I took quiet possession 
of three rooms : one for my kitchen, the others for 
my parlor and bed, or rather, sleeping-room. The 
rubbish was cleared away, and my furniture, consist- 
ing of a table and a chair, with which the major- 
domo had kindly supplied me, was duly arranged ; 
and some corn, dried pork, lard, sundry eggs, &c., 
were carefully provided. Jose selected the most 
finely finished pieces of ornamented stones which 
were lying about the door, and silently disposed them 
around the parlor as seats for the accommodation of 
company. We then felt ourselves perfectly at home, 
and ready to receive our friends as soon as they might 
be pleased to wait upon us. From our door we could 
see, on our right, beautiful hills undulating like the 
ground-swell of the sea ; on the left, the Cordilleras, 
looking down with an air of great complaisance up- 
on the plain beneath. Nature is renewing the fields 
far as the eye can reach ; while in the foreground 
are the time-defying monuments of other days, gar- 
landed with luxuriant shrubs and flowers, to sustain 



156 GOVERNOR'S HOUSE. 

which they had been compelled to give up their own 
symmetry and beauty. It was nature in her second 
childhood. 

The Governor's House* is a vast and splendid 
pile of rains. It stands upon three ranges of terra- 
ces ; the first of which is a slight projection, forming 
a finish. The great platform, or terrace above it, 
measures upwards of five hundred feet long, and four 
hundred and fifteen broad. It is encompassed by a 
wall of fine hewn stone thirty feet high, with angles 
rounded, still in good preservation. In the centre of 
this platform, upon which trees and vegetation grow 
in profusion, stands a shaft of gray limestone in an 
inclined position, measuring twelve feet in circum- 
ference and eight in height ; bearing upon its surface 
no marks of form or ornament by which it might be 
distinguished from a natural piece. Near by is a 
rude carving of a tiger with two heads; also, I 
saw excavations near them with level curbings 
and smoothly finished inside, which are conjectured 
to have been cisterns or granaries. Along the south- 
ern edge of this platform are the remains of a range 
of small pillars, now broken and -in confusion. 

Upon the north-west corner of this platform is an 
edifice, which was, no doubt, from its location, con- 
nected with the Governor's House. It is the small- 
est of all the ruins. Its ornaments are few and plain; 
the most remarkable of which is a continuous line 
of turtles, cut from stone of about a foot square, ar- 
ranged under the cornices. 

*■ The names (though misnomers) of these structures originated 
with the people of the country. 




UXMAL RUlNi'. 

Hfii tared a/ier )*ixi(tec/c 







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GOVERNOR'S HOUSE. 157 

The south-west corner has connected with it two 
piles of loose stones, in the pjramidical form ; one 
eighty, and the other a hundred feet high, the sides 
of the bases measuring about two hundred feet. 
Their tops are broad platforms, over which, and down 
the sides, are scattered the remains of edifices, of 
which these pyramids were once probably the foun- 
dations. Here we found pieces of pottery, consist- 
ing of broken pieces of vases, and supposed cooking 
utensils. 

Upon the main terrace stands another of smaller 
dimensions, constituting the foundation of the Gov- 
ernor's House. The measurement of this terrace is 
three hundred aiid thirty-eight feet long, eighty-two 
broad, and thirty high, having a majestic flight of 
stone steps, though considerably broken at the cen- 
tre, in front of the entrance. 

This majestic pile faces the east, is two hundred 
and seventy-two feet long, thirty-six broad, and twen- 
ty-four high. The whole building is plain (unlike 
those of Chi-Chen) from the base to the mouldings, 
which run through the centre over the 
doorways ; above which, to the top, are 
ornaments and sculptured work in great 
profusion, and of the most rich, strange, 
and elaborate workmanship. It is divi- 
ded into double ranges of rooms, from 
front to rear. Two of the principal are 
situated in the centre, fifty-five feet long, 
ten broad, and about nineteen high, with an angular 
ceiling, occupying one-half of the whole. There are 




158 



THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE. 



fourteen other rooms in the front and rear ; also, two 
rooms on each end, and one in front and rear of the 
two recesses, of about one-half of the average size. 

The interior of these rooms is sometimes covered 
with a beautiful hard finish, and at others presents a 
surface of uniform square blocks of smooth stone. 
The floors are of stone, covered with a hard compo- 
sition, which, together with the stone, is now much 
broken. 

The lintels, which are of zuporte wood, are decay- 
ed and broken, to which, in a great degree, the falling 
of the walls may be attributed. The inner sides of 
the doorways are pierced, and hooks attached, where- 
on doors were probably swung. There are, also, 
apertures in the walls, where beams rested, to sup- 
port hammocks, some of which still remain, and show 
the marks of the cords. There were no fresco, or 
other painting or decorations of any kind in the inte- 
rior of the building to be discerned. 

The front presents the most remark- 
able architectural skill to be found about 
the building. The w^alls were of the 
most durable kind of limestone ; and up- 
wards of three feet thick, of fine hewn 
stone, laid with the greatest care. There 
were eleven doorways besides those of 
the recesses. The finish of the angles, 
generally, was as smooth as though the material were 
cut with a sharp knife. 

The ornaments were composed of small square 
pieces of stone, shaped with infinite skill, and insert- 




THE GOVERNOR'S HOUSE. 



159 



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ed between the mortar and stone with the greatest 
care and precision. About two-thirds of the orna- 
ments are still remaining upon the facade. The most 
elaborate were over the centre or main entrance. 
These have fallen ; and now are a heap of ruins at 
the base. One of them was a figure of a man, with 
a head-dress of feathers and tassels ; part of which 
still remains, with lines of hieroglyphics underneath. 
The ground-work of the ornaments 
is chiefly composed of raised lines, 
running diagonally, forming dia- 
mond or lattice-work, over which 
are rosettes and stars ; and, in bold 
relief, the beautiful Chinese border. 
From the centre of the building to the recess, at 
the northern extremity of the building, the ornaments 
have mostly crumbled off, and are noW lying at the 
base in ruins ; and the other parts, contiguous, seem 
ready to follow the example. The rear of this edi- 
fice is more plainly finished ; the main part of the 
centre has fallen. 

Over the principal doorway are the remains of a 
female figure, in a sitting posture. The 
hands and legs have fallen. It has a 
fine head-dress of cap and tassels, and 
neck ornaments. The waist looks 
^ quite natural, and the whole was fine- 
I ly finished. On each side of this fig- 
■" ure was hieroglyphical writing. The 
inner rooms of the centre of the Gov- 
ernor's House still show the places ot 




6 inches. 



160 THE NUNS' HOUSE. 

excavations, made some years ago, by the curate of 
Ticul. 

The extensive pile of ruins designated as the Nuns* 
House, is situated a fevi^ rods distant, in a northerly 
direction from the Governor's House. It comprises 
four great ranges of edifices, placed on the sides of a 
quadrangular terrace, measuring about eleven hun- 
dred feet around, and varying in height from fifteen 
to twenty-four feet, its sides corresponding to the car- 
dinal points. The principal entrance is through an 
acute-angled arch doorway, in the centre of the 
southern range, through which I entered into a spa- 
cious court. This range is upwards of two hundred 
feet long, twenty-five broad, and sixteen high ; con- 
taining eight rooms on either side of the principal 
entrance, which are now in good preservation. The 
inner and outer facades are variously ornamented. 
Among these I observed signs, symbolical of deities 
and of Time, as represented to us as symbolized 
among the ancient Mexicans whose customs have 
reached us. 

The opposite, or northern range, by its superior 
elevation, and more elaborate work, was evidently the 
principal portion of this immense structure. Its foun- 
dation, which was twenty-four feet high, is now much 
broken. It has contained rooms and corridors, the 
walls and pillars of which are still remaining. This 
range has a wide terrace, or promenade, in front; 
which, from its elevated position, overlooks the whole 
ruins. The front wall presents five doorways, the 
lintels and sides of which have fallen, and filled up 











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THE NUNS' HOUSE. 161 

the rooms with their crumbling ruins. It measures 
about two hundred and forty-six feet in length, and 
twenty-five in width, and its height is now only about 
twenty-six feet. Something like one-third of the or- 
naments upon the facade yet remain, which bear evi- 
dence of gre?.t power of combination, and extraordi- 
nary skill in the building. No part of the edifice, 
however, is perfect. 

The east and west ranges stand upon foundations 
which are ten feet high. The ranges are about one 
hundred and forty feet in length, thirty-four in breadth, 
and twenty-fi'id in heiglit, having four doorways, di- 
vided into eight rooms each. Those of the east are 
in good preservation — those of the west are much 
fallen and broken. The largest one of the rooms lies 
on the east side, and measures thirty feet by twelve. 
The others range about twelve by eighteen ; having 
ante-rooms on either side, nine by twelve. The 
height of the ceiling is uniform throughout, and the 
walls are finished with a clean, white, hard substance. 
The finish and style, as well as the arrangement of 
the ornaments, on all sides of these walls, are differ- 
ent. They are much broken, and many pieces are 
lost, which renders it quite impossible to get at the 
designs. 

The northern front, no doubt, was the principal 
cne, as I judge from the remains, as well as from the 
fact, that it is more elevated than the others. The 
southern range is more plain, both in its front and 
rear. The eastern facade is filled with elaborate or- 
naments, differing entirely from the others, and better 

13 



162 



THE NUNS' HOUSE. 



finished. The western facade is much broken. The 
remains of two great serpents, however, are still quite 
perfect ; their heads turned back, and entwining each 
other, they extend the whole length of the facade, 
through a chaste ground- work of ornamental lines, in - 
terspersed with various rosettes. They are put to 
gether by small blocks of stone, exquisitely worked, 
and arranged with the nicest skill and precision. 
The heads of the serpents are adorned with pluming 
feathers and tassels, their mouths widely extended, 
and their tails represent the rattle divisions. 

In the rear of, and within a few feet of the east- 
ern range, are the remains of a similar range, which 
is now almost in total ruins. There appear to have 
been connecting walls, or walks, from this range to 
the Pyramid near by, as I judged from the rubbish 
and stones that can be traced from one to the other. 
The outer walls of the northern foundation, which 
yet remain quite perfect, are not excelled, in point of 
workmanship, by the work of any artisans of the pre- 
sent day. The outer angles, in 
particular, are worked with a 
skill which is almost incredible. 
Among the great variety of orna- 
ments, with which these edifices 
abound at present, I discovered a 
number of large stone hooks, fine- 
ly carved, and none of them bro- 
ken. They generally are placed over the doorways, 
and upon the angles of the buildings, and must have 
been an important or a favorite ornament, from the con- 




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mm. 



T- 




THE PYRAMID. 163 

spicuoiis places invariably chosen for them. There 
are also figures of men, representing Indians, in stand- 
ing and sitting postures, with long clubs ; but they 
are rude, both in design and execution. 

Within these quadrangular edifices is a terrace 
about six feet wide, extending round the entire court, 
with flights of steps on all sides, descending to the 
large court below, which is covered with square 
blocks of stone, considerably worn. The surface 
was broken, and covered with earth and vegetation. 
In the centre of the court is an excavation, in which 
an immense shapeless stone was discovered, similar 
to one excavated from the area of the main terrace 
of the Governor's House. 

The Pyramid is situated about two rods easterly 
from the ruins of the Nuns' House, to which it ap- 
pears, in some way, to have been connected. It pre- 
sents a fine exterior of hewn stone, large at the base, 
and their sizes diminishing as they approach the plat- 
form. The sides are precipitous, much broken, and 
covered with trees. Its base measures five hundred 
feet ; from the base to the summit or platform, it is 
one hundred. The summit is reached, on the east- 
ern side, by a flight of a hundred stone steps, each 
one foot high, and about six inches deep ; making 
the ascent quite difficult, although the steps are still 
in good preservation. 

The area of the platform measures seventy-two 
feet in length and twenty-one in width, and is occu- 
pied by an edifice sixty feet long, twelve wide, and 
twenty high ; having two rooms both on the east and 



164 THE PYRAMID. 

on the west sides, and one on either end. These 
rooms are much defaced, and their doorways dilapi- 
dated. The eastern front has two doorways, and 
two small pavihons projecting six or eight inches 
from the facade, supported by plain pilasters. 

The western facade is ornamented with human 
figures similar to caryatides, finely sculptured in stone 
with great art. Their heads are covered with a 
casque, and ear ornaments similar to those worn by 
the Egyptians. They have girdles around theii 
bodies. On the western side, immediately in front 
of the doorway, is a platform, or roof of a room, the 
base or floor of which includes about twenty feet of 
the inclined side of the Pyramid ; leading to which 
is a broken plane, once occupied by the steps. Here 
are two rooms, one of which is of an unusually large 
size, with a proportionate doorway, fronting the Nuns' 
House. The interior of these rooms was finely fin- 
ished with smooth stone. There appeared to be no 
conununication from them with any other part. The 
front and sides of the exterior were filled with sculp- 
tured work of the most elaborate and incomprehen- 
sible description. The same degree of skill and pre- 
cision was perceptible here that distinguishes the 
whole ruins. 

Below these rooms, at or near the base of the side, 
are others, where excavations have been made. They 
are now much broken, and covered with the fallen 
ruins. 

A few rods distant, in a southwest direction from 
the Governor's House, are the remains of an exten- 



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OTHER REMAINS. 165 

sive range, or succession of ruins. They, probably, 
were once of no inconsiderable importance in the 
place. They are composed of terraces, walls, rooms 
and corridors, and court-yards. 

The principal ruin fronts the north, and, probably, 
was connected with the Governor's House. A wall 
of two hundred feet remains standing upon a foun- 
dation of ten feet. Its width is twenty-five feet; hav- 
ing ranges of rooms in both sides, only parts of which 
remain. This wall has an acute-angled arch door- 
way through the centre, similar to that of the Nuns' 
House, with rooms on both sides. The top of this 
wall has numerous square apertures through it, which 
give it the appearance of pigeon-holes ; and its edge 
13 foimed like the gable-end of a house, uniformly 
notched. In front of this wall appears to have been 
an immense court or square, enclosed by stone walls, 
leading to the Nuns' House. The interior of this 
square, apparently, shows the ruins of walls and 
rooms and walks ; but nothing definite could be made 
out, as the ruins were almost level with the ground, 
and overgrown with trees and grass. At intervals, 
along the outer wall, in a northwest direction, the 
ruins of rooms were seen, evidently a regular succes- 
sion of them. 

In the rear of the principal wall is another court 
or square, but much smaller than that in front, hav- 
ing broken corridors, and the sides running back to 
an artificial elevation of about fifty feet ; the form of 
which was lost, owing to the dilapidation of the sides 
and angles Ruins of rooms and corridors, both at 



166 OTHER REMAINS. 

its base and summit, were perceptible. Other squares 
can be defined by the broken walls contiguous to 
these extensive ruins ; also, numerous mounds ; one 
of which, discovered west of the Nuns' House, is 
found to be an immense reservoir or cistern, having 
a double curb ; the interior of which was beautifully 
finished with stucco, and in good preservation. Some 
of these mounds have been excavated, as I have al- 
ready mentioned, and seemed to have been intended 
originally for sepulchres. 

In the centre of the avenue between the Governor's 
House and the Nuns' House, in a line with the prin- 
cipal doorway of the latter building, are the ruins of 
two walls, running parallel with each other, north and 
south, about twelve feet apart. The eastern and in- 
ner side shows the remains of a serpent along its fa- 
cade, similar to that of the Nuns' House — a small 
portion, however, only remains. It also shows rooms 
and ceilings quite level with the ground. The west- 
ern wall is more perfect, and has a ring inserted in 
its facade, Hke those of Chi- Chen ; but, inste^.d of 
ornaments, presents hieroglyphics upon its sides. 

The short period to which I was, unfortunately, 
restricted in the examination of these sublime ruins, 
(and these remarks will apply to all which have come 
under my observation,) has permitted me to touch 
but slightly even upon those which have appeared to 
be the most prominent. Months might be spent 
among them, and then one would only have entered 
upon the threshold of an investigation into their 
wonders. 




*^ 



s 






A MOONLIGHT VIEW. 167 

A moonlight scene from the Governor's House is 
one of the most enchanting sights I ever witnessed. 
The moon had risen about half way up from the 
horizon, and was now throwing its strong silver light 
over the whitened facade of our house. Castles, pal- 
aces, and falling pyramids were distinctly to be traced 
in the foreground. At a distance, walls and mounds, 
rising above the green verdure of the land, looked 
like a multitude of small islands in a calm summer's 
sea. All was quiet but the chirp of the cricket, or 
the occasional scream of some night-bird of the wood. 
It was a scene of natural beauty such as I never 
have seen realized upon canvass of the artist, or 
even in the pages of poetry. 



CHAPTj£R iZ. 

Introductory Facts— Ruins of Yucatan and other parts of Mexico— 
Ruins of North America — Mississippi and Missouri— Look-Out 
Mountain — Ohio River — Mount Joliet and others — Indian Races — 
Ledyard— Bradford — Dr. Morton — Diversity of Opinions — Pyra- 
mids of Egypt — Speculations— Vassalage— Comparison — Tradi- 
tions — Embalming — Priesthood — Siamese — Japanese — Astrono- 
my and Mythology. 

There are three questions which will very natu- 
rally occur to those of my readers who have done 
me the honor to follow me through the preceding de- 
tails and statistics: — 1st. By whom were these ruins 
built? 2d. When were they built? And 3d. For what 
purpose ? Before answering the first question it is 
proper to state, that all the ruins of which mention 
has been made in the preceding pages, and by Mr. 
Stephens and by Waldeck, are not a tithe of those 
still remaining uninvestigated on the American con- 
tinent, and, perhaps I may add, in the single province 
of Yucatan. Mounds, tumuli, pyramidal structures, 
and ruins of cities, have been seen from the southern 
extremity of South America even to the western side 
of the Rocky mountains — from Florida to the west- 
ern lakes. There is every reason to presume that 
the interior of Yucatan, and other portions of Mex- 
ico, contain remains of even a more striking charac- 



RUINS OF NORTH AMERICA. 169 

ter than tlnse it has been my province to describe. 
The C ' io valley and its vicinage are supposed to have 
been cr 7 3ied with more than five thousand villages, 
the largest of which stood near the junction of the 
Missouri and Mississippi rivers."^ Regular and sci- 
entifically constructed works of a defensive cnarac- 
ter, between the Ohio river and the great lakes, are 
still to be traced; some of which occupied, it is 
thought, more than one hundred acres of ground. - 
Look-Out Mountain, which stands a thousand feet 
above the surrounding country, between the Tennes- 
see and Coos rivers, is one of the Alleghanies. Al- 
though the top is nearly level, it gives rise to a river 
which, after winding some distance, plunges abruptly 
oyer a precipice. Immediately below this fall, on 
each side, are bluffs two hundred feet high; one of 
which, by the turn of the stream, forms a kind of 
isolated peninsula. On the summit of this are the 
remains of a fortification, that follows the curve of 
the river below for more than thirty-seven rods, and 
extends to the very brow of the rock. The only 
descent and access is by a kind of fissure, which 
reaches to the shore beneath. Thirty feet from the 
top, intersecting this passage, is a ledge or platform 
ninety feet long by two to five wide. At this land- 
ing are five rooms, cut out of the soUd rock. The 
entrance is small ; but within they communicate with 
each other by doors or apertures. This wonderful 
excavation has the appearance of being intended as 

* Breckenridge. 



170 



MOUNDS IN OHIO. 



a place of the last resort for the inmates. From its 
peculiar position, twenty resolute men might success- 
fully contend against the assault of a numerous army, 
as not more than one at a time can approach, and 
the slightest push would hurl an assailant over a pre- 
cipice of a hundred and fifty feet to certain and in- 
stant death. That this is a remnant of antiquity 
there can be little doubt ; and that it has escaoed the 
attention of the curious, is owing, probably, to its re- 
tired and almost unknown situation. 

On the Ohio river, twenty miles bplow the mouth 
of the Wabash, is a remarkable cave, consisting of 
two rooms, one immediately over the other. The 
uppermost is accessible by a square opening; and 
the lowest is twelve rods in length and five in breadth. 
The interior walls are smooth. The floor is level 
through the centre, but the sides rise in siony grades, 
resembling the seats in the pit of a theatre ; and leav- 
ing little doubt that it had been so arranged to ac- 
commodate an audience attending performances or 
deliberations of some nature. The engravings and 
hieroglyphics upon the walls are numerous and well 
executed. Many animals are represented, among 
which are eight that are now unknown. 

There are conical mounds in Ohio of various al- 
titudes and dimensions, some being only four or five 
feet, and ten or twelve in diameter at the base ; while 
others, farther south, rise even to a hundred feet, and 
cover many acres of ground. They are generally in 
the form of a cone. These structures seem to have 



PYRAMID AT CUANUVACA. 171 

been built at various periods ; and it would be no 
matter of surprise if some of them were in existence 
during the deluge. The materials which compose 
them appear to be suited to their locations. In those 
positions where stone was not to be had, they are 
formed of earth. 

At Mount Joliet, near the town of Juliet, on the 
Illinois river, is probably the largest mound within 
the limits of the United States. It is raised on a 
horizontal limestone stratum of the secondary for- 
mation, and is sixty feet high ; and measures, at the 
summit, eighty-four rods in length and fourteen in 
width ; and, at the base, it is much larger. In the 
neighborhood of Rock river (Illinois) the mounds 
are numerous, and give evidence that there once ex- 
isted in that vicinity a dense population. 

Southeast of the city of Cuanuvaca, on the west 
declivity of Anahuac, there is an isolated hill, upon 
the top of which is a pyramid. The whole height 
is upwards of six hundred feet, and it is five times as 
large as the tower of Babel. It has five terraces, 
each of nearly sixty feet in height, covered with solid 
masonry, upon the top of which rest the artificial 
works ; and the whole is surrounded with a broad 
deep ditch. 

In Peru, on the Cordilleras, at a surprising height, 
are works still more considerable. From a general 
resemblance of these structures throughout the whole 
American continent in their apparent purpose, age, 
and style of architecture, it is generally presumed 
that the architects belonged to the same races of na- 



172 OPINIONS OF WIRT. 

tive Indians. I say races, for there are reasons for 
believing that the American continent has witnessed 
the growth and extinction of more than one race of 
men which had advanced to a high state of civili- 
zation. 

Wirt's impressions are, that tliree distinct races of 
men have occupied this country previous to the arri- 
val of the existing white settlers. The monuments 
of the first or primitive race are regular stone walls, 
brick hearths, (found in digging the Louisville canal,) 

^ medals of copper, silver swords, and implements of 
iron. These rehcs, he thinks, belonged to a race of 
civilized men who must have disappeared many cen- 
turies ago. To them he attributes the hieroglyphic 
characters found on the limestone bluffs ; the remains 
of cities and fortifications of Florida; the regular 
banks of ancient live oaks near them ; and the hard 
and regular bricks found at Louisville, that were 
longer in proportion to the width than those of the 
present day. 

To the second race he attributes those vast mounds 

> of earth found throughout the whole western regions, 
from Lake Erie and Western Pennsylvania to Flor- 
ida and the Rocky mountains. Some of them con- 
tain the skeletons of human beings, and display im- 
mense labor. Many of them are regular mathemati- 
cal figures — parallelograms and sections of circles; 
showing the remains of gateways and subterraneous 
passages. Some of them are eighty feet high, and 
have trees growing on them apparently five hundred 
years old. The soil upon them differs, generally, 



AMERICAN RACES. 173 

from that which surrounds them ; and they are most 
common in situations where it since has been found 
convenient to build towns and cities. Many frag- 
ments of earthenware, of curious workmanship, have 
been dug up throughout this vast region ; some repre- 
senting drinking vessels, some human heads, and some 
idols. They all appeared to be made by the hand, 
and hardened in the sun. These mounds and earth- 
en implements indicate a race inferior to the first, 
which were acquainted with the use of iron. 

The third race are the Indians now existing in 
the western territories. In the profound silence and 
solitude of these western regions, and above the bones 
of a buried world, how must a philosophic traveller 
meditate upon the transitory state of human exist- 
ence, when the only traces of two races of men are 
these strange memorials ! On this very spot genera- 
tion after generation has stood, has lived, has warred, 
grown old, and passed away ; and not only their 
names, but their nation, their language has perished, 
and utter oblivion has closed over their once popu- 
lous abodes ! We call this country the new world. 
It is old ! Age afier age, and one physical revolu- 
tion after anothe?;, has passed over it, but who shall 
tell its history 1 

Priest has concluded that the Carthaginians, Phoe- 
nicians, Persians, Hindoos, Chinese, Japanese, Ro- 
man, and Greek nations of antiquity, and others, as 
well as Europeans after their civilization, had more 
to do with the peopling of the wilds of America than 
is generally supposed. 



174 OPINION OF LED YARD. 

Ledyavd, in a letter to Mr. Jefferson, from Siberia, 
says, " I never shall be able, without seeing you in 
person, and perhaps not then, to inform you how uni- 
versally and circumstantially the Tartars resemble the 
aborigines of America. They are the same people — 
the most ancient and the most numerous of any other; 
and, had they not a small sea to divide them, they 
would all have still been known by the same name, 
* * * With respect to national or genealogical con ■ 
nexion, which the remarkable affinity of person and 
manners bespeaks between the Indians on this and 
the American continent, I declare my opinion to be, 
without the least scruple, and with the most absolute 
conviction, that the Indians on the one and on the other 
are the same people."* 

" It appears," says Bradford, " that the red race may 
be traced, by physical analogies, into Siberia, China, 
Japan, Polynesia, Indo-China, the Malayan Islands, 
Hindostan, Madagascar, Egypt, and Etruria. In some 
of these nations the pure type of the race may be per- 
ceived existing at present, in others many of its char- 
acters have been changed and modified, apparently 
by intermarriage ; and, in others, its ancient existence 
is only to be discovered by the records preserved on 
tlieir monuments." 

" We are constrained to believe," says the learned 
Dr. Morton, " that there is no more reseinblance be- 
tween the Indian and Mongol in respect to arts, ar- 
chitecture, mental features, and social usages, than ex- 
ists between any other two distinct races of mankind. 

* Sparks' Life of Ledyard. 



SPECULATIONS. 175 

" I maintain that the organic characters of the peo- 
ple themselves, through all their endless ramifications 
of tribes and nations, prove them to belong to one and 
the same race, and that this race is distinct from all 
others. * * * The evidences of history and the 
Egyptian monuments go to prove that the same races 
were as distinctly marked three thousand years ago 
as they are now ; and, in fact, that they are coeval 
with the primitive dispersion of our species." 

Whatever diversity of origin may have existed 
among the races of Indians whose remains are the 
burden of our speculations, one thing is certain, that 
the builders of the ruins of the city of Chi-Chen and 
Uxmal excelled in the mechanic and the fine arts. 
It is obvious that they were a cultivated, and doubt- 
less a very numerous people. It is difficult to sup- 
pose that any great advance in mechanico-dynamic 
science could have been made by these people, with- 
out some evidence besides their works remaining. 
Yet it is almost impossible to suppose that those vast 
erections could have been made by the mere aggre- 
gation of men, unaided by science. Herodotus tells 
us that a hundred thousand men, relieved every three 
months, were employed in building the pyramid of 
Cheops in Egypt. Ten years were spent in prepar- 
ing the road whereon the stones were to be transport- 
ed, and twenty years more in erecting the edifice. 
Yet though Cheops had a nation of slaves to do his 
bidding, and though he employed such multitudes 
upon this stupendous work, it is generally supposed 
that he must have been aided by some kind of ma-> 



176 VASSALAGE. 

chinery more powerful than any thing known ai' the 
present day. 

It is also pretty obvious that Chi-Chen, and the 
other cities of Yucatan, were built by a nation of 
slaves. All the buildings whose remains are now 
visible, were evidently constructed to gratify the pride 
of a single man or set of men. They were monu- 
ments raised to the glory of the few at the expense 
of the thousands. They are not the kind of works 
that the people join in building of their own free- 
will. They answer no public purpose or conveni- 
ence. No nation of freemen would spend their mo- 
ney or their labor in that way. We may safely con- 
clude that the doctrines of free government were 
quite unknown among this ancient people — that 
they were governed by a despotism, and that they 
were taxed contrary to their will, for these, the only 
works which were to memorialize their servitude to 
posterity. 

So much for the builders of these ruins. The next 
question which occurs, when were they built 1 is, if 
possible, more difficult of solution than the one tc 
which I have been speaking. 

The only way to get any idea of the age of these 
ruins is, by comparison with the remains of other 
cities of whose age we have some knowledge. Meas- 
uring their age by such a scale, the mind is startled 
at their probable antiquity. The pyramids and tem- 
ples of Yucatan seem to have been old in the days 
of Pharaoh. Before the eye of the imagination — 



COMPARISON. 177 

" Their lonely columns stand sublime, 
Flinging their shadows from on high, 

Like dials, which the wizard Time 
Had raised to count his ages by." 

The reader is already sufficiently familiar with the 
general structure of the buildings which we have at- 
tempted to describe, and the present condition of 
their ruins. He will remember that there are walls 
there now standing, fifteen feet thick and more, built 
with an art and strength which defy both competi- 
tion and decay ; that there is one pyramid upwards 
of a hundred feet in height, with a building upon its 
summit, which supports trees that are planted in soil 
deposited from the atmosphere for the last thousand 
years or more. Let the reader compare these ruins, 
m their present condition, with the Cloaca Maxima 
of Rome. More than twenty-five hundred years have 
elapsed since this work was constructed, to drain off 
the waters of the Forum and the adjacent hollows 
to the Tiber, and there it stands to this day without 
a stone displaced, still performing its destined ser- 
vice. How many years before it will present the 
ruinous aspect of the " Temple" of Chi-Chen? Evi- 
dently the city of Chi-Chen was an antiquity when 
the foundations of the Parthenon at Athens, and the 
Cloaca Maxima at Rome, were being laid. Com- 
pare with the ruins of Central America the conspicu- 
ous remains of Balbeck, of Antioch, of Carthage — 
shall I not add, of Tadmor, of Thebes, of Memphis, 
and of Gizeh, their Pyramids, their Labyrinths, their 
Obehsks, and Sepulchres. Who shall say that while 

12 



178 PURPOSES OF THE RUINS. 

the servile workmen of Cheops or Cephrinus were 
sacrificino- the Uves of countless mukitudes of men, 
to prove that the gods were not alone immortal, and 
to rear for themselves imperishable burial-places, that 
at the same time, on another continent, thousands of 
miles from the Egyptian house of bondage, a people 
of a different race, unknowing and unknown to his- 
tory, were not laying the foundations of cities and of 
palaces and of temples, less stupendous perhaps, but 
no less a wonder and a mystery to succeeding nations? 
It is not for any man now to place a Umit to the age 
of the American ruins ; but one thing will be evident 
to every one who shall look at the more ancient of 
those in Yucatan, that they belong to the remotest 
antiquity. Their age is not to be measured by hun- 
dreds, but by thousands of years. 

With regard to the purpose of these ruins, I can 
add little to the suggestions which have already been 
made during the progress of my narrative. They 
were, without a doubt, built primarily for the honor 
and glory of the rulers of the country. They are, as 
Phny very justly says, when speaking of the similar 
achievements of the Eastern tyrants, '' Regum pecu- 
nicB otiosa ac stulta ostentatior Their secondary 
purposes, doubtless, were to be used as palatial resi- 
dences, imperishable sepulchres for the dead, and tem- 
ples for religious worship. It is impossible to sup- 
pose that any of the ruined buildings of which I have 
given a description could have been intended for 
private abodes, or could have been constructed by 
private enterprise. On the contrary, not a vestige of 



TRADITIONS OF THE INDIANS. 179 

the ordinary houses in which the masses might have 
been supposed to reside, remain. Every memorial 
of the people is gone, save the splendid structures 
which they erected to gratify the pride of their kings 
and their priests. 

In this connexion it may not be impertinent to 
allude to some of the religious opinions and cere- 
monies of the South American nations, which may 
throw hght upon the topic under consideration. 

Almost all the Indian tribes, even to the Charibs, 
have a traditionary account of the deluge and of the 
creation ; and, what is more singular, relate it as oc- 
curring in or near their present locations upon this 
continent — leading to the supposition of an antedi- 
luvian existence in America. They also have their 
great supernatural benefactors. The Brazilians have 
the Payzome, the Tamanac race their Amalivaca, 
the Chilians their Them, the Muyscas their Bochica, 
the Peruvians their Manco Capac, the Mexicans their 
Quetzalcoatl, and the Chiapasans their Votan. This 
iatter people represent Noah under the name of 
Coxox. 

The art of embalming seems to have been perfect- 
ly well known to the people who once inhabited the 
west, which shows that they were not the same with 
the roving Indians of later date.* The practice of 
burning the dead, which prevailed to a great extent 
in Asia and other parts of the world, was customary 
among all the more civihzed tribes. Their usual 
method of burial was in the sitting posture.f Dr 
* Priest. t Bradford's Am. Ant. 



180 AMERICAN PRIESTHOOD. 

Morton says, that "no offence excites greater exas- 
peration in the breast of the Indian than the violation 
of the graves of his people ; and he has been know^n 
to disinter the bones of his ancestors, and bear them 
with him to a great distance, when circumstances 
have compelled him to make a permanent change of 
residence. The practice of inhumation is so differ- 
ent from that practised by the rest of mankind, and 
at the same time so prevalent among the American 
natives, as to constitute another means of identifying 
them as parts of a single and peculiar race. This 
practice consists in burying the dead in a sitting pos- 
ture ; the legs being flexed against the abdomen, the 
arms also bent, and the chin supported on the palms 
of the hands." 

All the civiUzed Americans had a priesthood, and 
\ circumcision was practised by the Mayas of Yuca- 

/ tan, the Calchaquis of Caho,* and Mexicans,! who 
worshipped the sun and stars, believing that depart- 
ed souls became stars. Water was held to be sacred 
for religious ablution — and the mounds are generally 
found near it, or have the means of being well sup- 
plied. Adair assures us that the Choctaws called 
the old mounds " Nanne-Yah," " The Hills or Mounts 
of God ;" a name almost identical with the Mexican 
pyramids. In Mexico, the Teocalli, or " Houses of 
God," or Houses of the Sun, (for the word " Teolt," 
the appellation of the Supreme Being, was also used 
to denote that luminary,) were regular terraced pyra- 

* Prof. Rafinesque. t De Solis. 



KELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, 181 

raids, supporting chapels, which contained the images 
of their idolatry. The temples of the sun and moon, 
in Mexico, resemble similar temples among the an- 
cient Romans. The sun was worshipped at Emesa, 
says Gibbon, under the name of Elagabalus, under 
the form of a black conical stone, which, it was uni- 
versally believed, had fallen from heaven on that sa 
cred spot. 

The Siamese and Javanese divide their weeks simi- 
lar to the Mexicans, the first, like theirs, being mar- 
ket-day; and their cycles, like the Maya age, con- 
sisted of twenty years. This was a custom with 
them previous to any connexion with the Hindoos.* 
The behef of the Mayas and Mexicans, that the 
world would be destroyed at the end of one of their 
ages, coincides singularly with the same impression 
among the Egyptians, according to Herodotus, when 
they saw the sun descend from the Crab toward 
Capricorn. In the festival of Isis, when the orb be- 
gan to re-appear, and the days grew longer, they 
robed themselves in white garments, and crowned 
themselves with flowers. 

The movements of the Pleiades were observed by 
most of the primitive nations, says Pritchard, and not 
less so by the southern and central Indians. It is an 
Egyptian legend that the body of Osiris (the moon) 
was cut to pieces by Typhon (the sun.) So, likewise, 
in the Mexican mythology, the woman serpent (the 
moon). is said to be devoured by the sun ; a fabulous 
allusion to the changes of the moon. In Mexico the 

* Crawford's Siam. 



182 VAGUE RESULTS. 

woman serpent, or moon, was styled the " mother of 
our flesh ;" so, in Egypt, that luminary was called the 
" mother of the world." The Mexicans, Peruvians, 
Araucanians, the Canadian and Huron Indians ; as, 
also, the Chinese, Malays, and Hindoos, in cases of 
eclipses of the sun or moon, shot off arrows at them, 
made hideous noises, caused dogs to bark and howl, 
and in every possible way struggled to separate the 
two antagonists. 

Thus much with regard to the impressions left 
upon my mind respecting the origin and purpose of 
these ruins. I make no apology for their vagueness. 
It would be presumptuous to attempt to have any 
definite ideas upon the subject. But in order to af- 
ford the reader every facility for forming clearer views, 
if possible, than myself, I have collected and subjoin 
in another chapter, a mass of historical information 
connected with the subject before me, selected from 
the writings of the most recent, sagacious, and faith- 
ful travellers, who have left us any record of their 
studies. These extracts present all the most import- 
ant facts known of the early inhabitants of Mexico. 
How far history can assist the antiquary in his inves- 
tigations of this subject, may be pretty satisfactorily 
judged by consulting the following chapter. 



CHAPTER X. 

Waldeck's Remarks on Uxmal — Ancient Tools — Soil and Health — 
Ancient Customs — End of Time — The Coronation of an Emperor — 
Religious Beliefs — Marriage Ceremony — Infant Baptism — Origin 
of those Rites — Horse Worship — Amusements — Markets — Idols 
— Candidates for Matrimony — Their "Worship Varies — Refine- 
ments. 

In respect to the ruins of Uxmal, Waldeck remarks, 
that "nothing is in stucco — all is in well-worked 
stone. Cogolludo and Gutierre have confounded 
Palenque with Uxmal, and Uxmal with Copan. The 
edifices of Palenque, except the palace, are of small 
dimensions — those of Uxmal are, comparatively, co- 
lossal, and all constructed of hewn stone. The py- 
ramid is called the Conjurer's Tower, and is the high- 
est of five seen by the author. He considers it a 
place originally devoted to sacrifices. The Asiatic 
style is easily recognised in the architecture of this 
monument. It is ornamented by the symbolic ele- 
phant upon the rounding corners of the building. 
The trunk is yet visible on the east side, though the 
whole figure is much broken on the west side. It is 
to be regretted that the figure is not entire. The 
legs, for the most part, are wanting. There are some 
statues in basso-relievo, very natural; and in some 



184 REMARKS ON UXMAL. 

respects very correctly designed. Above all, in the 
ornaments, we must admire the patience of the work- 
men, and the taste of those ancient people, so rich in 
monumental wealth. Blue and red are the only col- 
ors distinguishable upon the walls. The carvings, 
which ornament the facades of some of the edifices 
of Uxmal, deserve the careful attention of artists and 
savans. When they carefully examine the squares, 
which compose those beautiful embellishments, they 
will be convinced that their designers had a profound 
knowledge of the principles of geometry. I have 
measured all the details by plumb and line, and have 
found them to conform to each other with perfect 
accuracy in all their parts." 

No iron implements, or tools of any description, 
have been discovered here ; nor was I successful in 
finding anything of the kind at Chi-Chen. Flint was 
undoubtedly used. This stone is capable of being 
formed with a most delicate natural edge, which is 
as durable, in the working of limestone, as that of 
steel. 

The soil about Uxmal is rich, principally of a red 
sand loam, capable of producing corn, tobacco, and 
almost any other product that the limited industry of 
its inhabitants may be disposed to cultivate. The 
face of the land is somewhat undulating, and free of 
that flat monotonous appearance which may be con- 
sidered as almost an affliction to a great portion of 
this province. There are ponds in the vicinity; 
which, taken in connexion with the rank vegetation 
which borders them, engender considerable sickness 



ANCIENT CUSTOMS. 185 

during the months of autumn. The timber through- 
out Yucatan is of a stinted growth. 

Antonio de Sohs, the author of the " History of 
the Conquest of Mexico," a work of even classical 
merit, written at a period when he could have access 
to all the facts, gives some of the peculiar customs 
of the natives of Mexico that may be very properly 
noticed here ; as they may throw some light upon 
the subject when the matter is brought to the reflec- 
tion of those who are more competent than I am to 
draw conclusions. Some allowance should be made 
for the religious prejudices of the age in which this 
book was produced, and of its author. De Solis 
says that the Mexicans adjusted their calendar by the 
motion of the sun, making his altitude and declina- 
tion the measure of times and seasons. They allow- 
ed to their years three hundred and sixty-five days, 
and divided them into eighteen months of twenty 
days each ; leaving the five overplus days to come in 
at the end of the year, which were celebrated as 
holydays. Their weeks consisted of thirteen days, 
with different names marked in their calendar by 
images. The " age" or cycle, in their calendar, was 
four weeks of years, marked by a circle, which they 
divided into fifty-two degrees, allowing a year to each 
degree. In the centre of this circle they painted the 
sun, from whose rays proceeded four lines of differ- 
ent colors, which equally divided the circumference, 
leaving thirteen degrees to each semi-diameter ; and 
these nivisions served as signs of their zodiac, upon 
which their ages had their revolutions, and the sun 



186 END OF TIME. 

his aspects, prosperous or adverse, according to the 
colors of the hnes. In a large circle, enclosing the 
other, they marked, with their figures and characters, 
the accidents of the age, and all circumstances which 
had happened worthy of being remembered. These 
secular maps were public instruments, which served 
for a proof of their history. It may be remarked 
among the wisest institutions of their government, 
that they had official historiographers, whose duty it 
was to preserve for posteritv the exploits of their 
nation. 

They had a superstition that the world was ia 
danger of destruction at the last day of the '' age' 
of fifty-two years ; and all the people prepared them- 
selves for that dreadful and ultimate calamity. They 
took leave of the light with tears, and expected death 
without any previous sickness. They broke their 
household vessels as unnecessary lumner, extinguish- 
ed their fires, and walked about like disturbed peo- 
ple, without daring to take any rest, till they knew 
whether they were to be for ever consigned to the 
regions of darkness. On the dawning of day they 
began to recover their spirits, with their eyes fixed 
towards the east ; and, at the first appearance of the 
sun, they saluted him with all their musical instru- 
ments, and congratulated each other upon their secu- 
rity for the duration of another age. They imme- 
diately crowded to their temples to render thanks to 
their gods, and to receive from the priests new fire, 
which had been preserved by them throughout the 
night. Next, they made a new provision for their 



CHOICE AND CORONATION OF EMPERORS. 187 

necessary subsistence, and this day was spent in pub- 
lic rejoicings ; the diversions being dedicated to the 
renewal of time, much after the manner of the secu- 
lar games among the Romans. 

Their emperor, who was chosen by electoral prin- 
ces upon the death of his predecessor, receives the 
crown upon very precise conditions. He is obliged 
to take the field with the forces of the empire, and 
ODtain some victory ove'r his enemies, or subdue some 
rebels or some neighboring province, before he can 
be crowned, or permitted to ascend the royal throne. 
So soon as the victorious prince was found to be 
qualified for the regal dignity by the success of his 
enterprise, he returned triumphantly to the city, and 
made his public entry with great state and solemnity. 
The nobility, ministers, and priests accompanied him 
to the temple of war, where, after he had offered the 
customary sacrifices, the electoral princes clothed him 
in the royal robes ; arming his right hand with a sword 
of gold, edged with flint, the ensign of justice, and 
his left with a bow and arrows, signifying his power 
and command in war. Then the first elector, the 
king of Tezcuco, placed the crown upon his head. 
After this, one of the most eloquent magistrates made 
a long harangue, wishing him joy of the dignity in 
the name of the whole empire ; and added some doc- 
uments, representing the troubles and cares that at- 
tend a crown, with the obligations he lay under to 
guard the public good of his kingdom ; recommend 
ing to him the imitation of his ancestors. This 
upeech being ended, the chief of the priests approach- 



188 RELIGIOUS BELIEF. 

ed him with great reverence, and between his hands 
the emperor took the oath with great solemnity. He 
swore to maintain the rehgion of his ancestors ; to 
observe the laws and customs of the empire ; to treat 
his vassals with lenity; that, during his rule, they 
should have seasonable rains ; and that no inunda- 
tions of rivers, sterility of soil, or malignant influence 
of the sun, should happen. 

Amidst such a multitude of gods as they worship, 
they still acknowledge a superior deity, to whom they 
attribute the creation of the heavens and the earth.* 
This first cause of all things was, among the Mexi- 
cans, without a name ; there being no word in their 
language whereby to express his attributes. They 
only signified that they knew him by looking towards 
heaven with veneration, and giving him, after their 
way, the attribute of ineffable, with the same reli- 
gious uncertainty as the Athenians worshipped the 
Unknown God. They believed in the immortality 
of the soul, and in future rewards and punishments. 
They buried great quantities of gold and silver with 
their dead, in a belief that it was necessary to bear 
their expenses through a long and troublesome jour- 
ney. They put to death some of their servants to 
accompany them ; and it was a common thing foi 
wives to consummate the exequies of their husbands 
by their own deaths. Princes were obliged to have 
monuments of vast extent, for the greatest part of 
their riches and family were interred with them ; 

* Montezuma, in reply to Cortes, says, " In regard to the creation of 
the world, our beliefs are the same." — Bernal Dtez, 



MARRIAGE CEREMONY. 189 

both the one and the other in proportion to their 
dignity and grandeur. The whole of the servants 
were obUged to accompany the prince into the other 
world, together with some flatterers among them ; 
who, at that time, suffered for the deceit of their pro- 
fession. 

The marriage was a kind of contract, with some 
religious ceremonies. The preliminary articles be- 
ing ail agreed upon, the couple appeared in the tem- 
ple, and one of the priests examined their inclina- 
tions by certain formal questions, appointed by law 
for that purpose. He then took the tip of the wo- 
man's veil with one hand, and one corner of the 
husband's garment in the other, and tied them to- 
gether at the ends, to signify the interior tie of their 
affections. Thus they returned to their habitation, 
accompanied by the same priest; where, imitating 
the Romans with regard to their dii Lares, or house- 
hold gods, they paid a visit to the domestic fire, which 
they believed concerned in the union between the 
married pair. They went round it seven times, fol- 
lowing the priest; after which they sat down to re- 
ceive their equal share of the heat, and this accom- 
plished their marriage. They registered in a public 
instrument tne portion brought by the bride, every 
part whereof the husband was obhged to restore in 
case they parted, which very frequently happened; 
for mutual consent was judged to be a sufficient cause 
for a divorce ; a case in which the laws never inter- 
fered. When once thus dissolved, it was inevitable 



190 INFANT BAPTISM. 

death for them to come together again. IncoLstaiic)' 
was punished with the utmost rigor. 

Their new-born infants were carried to the tem 
pies with solemnity, and the priests received them 
with certain admonitions concerning the troubles tn 
which they were born. If they were the sons ol 
nobles, they put a sword into the child's right hand, 
and upon his left arm a shield, kept in the temple for 
that purpose. If of plebeian extraction, they put 
into their hands mechanical instruments ; and the 
females, of both degrees, had only the distaff and 
spindle, signifying to each the kind of employment 
which destiny had prepared for them. This cere- 
mony over, they were brought to the altar, and there, 
with a thorn of maguey, or a lancet of flint, they 
drew some drops of blood from the privy parts ; after 
which they either sprinkled them with water, or 
dipped them into it ; using, at the same time, certain 
invocations. This appears to be a striking imitation 
of baptism and circumcision, which De Solis very 
piously attributes to the devil ; who, he also says, in- 
troduced among these barbarians the confession of 
sins, giving it to be understood that thereby they ob- 
tained the favor of their gods. He (the devil) like- 
wise instituted a sort of communion, which the priest 
administered upon certain days of the year ; dividing 
into small bits an idol made of flour and honey, mix- 
ed into a paste, which they called the god of Peni- 
tence. They had jubilees, processions, offerings o5 
incense, and the other forms of divine worship. They 
even gave their chief priests the title oi pampas in thei? 



RITES AND CEREMONIES. 191 

language ; which, together with other imitations of 
the Cathohc church, the author thinks must have 
cost Satan a deal of close study and perseverance ! 

The rest of the rites and ceremonies of "these 
miserable heathen were shocking and horrible both 
to reason and nature ; bestialities, and incongruous, 
stupid absurdities ; which seemed altogether incom 
patible with the regularity and admirable economy 
which were observed in the other parts of the govern- 
ment, and would scarcely be believed were not his- 
tory full of examples of the like weaknesses and er- 
rors of men in other nations, and in parts of the 
wor.d where they have the means of being more en- 
lightened. Sacrifices of human blood began about 
the same time with idolatry. The horrible and de- 
testable custom of eating human flesh has been prac- 
tised many ages since among the barbarous people 
of our hemisphere, as Galatia confesses in her antiqui- 
ties ; and Scythia, in her Anthropophagi, must ac- 
knowledge the same. Greece and Rome wanted the 
Knowledge of true religion, and were complete idol- 
aters ; although, in everything else, they gave laws to 
ibe whole world, and left edifying examples to pos- 
terity." He therefore concludes that the Mexican 
worship was no other than a detestable compound 
of all the errors and abominations which have been 
:received among the Gentiles in different parts of the 
world. 

Don Solis would not enter into a detail of their 
pardcular festivals and sacrifices, their ceremonies, 
sorceries, and superstitions ; not only because they 



192 THE HORSE OF CORTES. 

are met at every step, with tedious repetitions, in the 
histories, but because it is his opinion that too much 
caution cannot be observed in restricting the pen 
upon a subject of this nature ; at best to be looked 
upon as an unnecessary lesson, affording the reader 
little pleasure and much less profit. 

With all due deference to the erudition and moral 
feelings of the author above, so largely quoted, I 
doubt vi^hether information of consequence might not 
be obtained from the minutiae of these ceremonies, 
trifling as they appear, that would be of importance 
to the future historian. If the exploits of these na- 
tions had been handed down even in the writings of 
those " capable historiographers," it would have been 
some consolation for the absence of any better au- 
thority.* The suppression of these records we can- 
not pardon — the natives erred through ignorance; 
their conquerors, from a policy only worthy of the 
darkest ages. They not only destroyed what they 
confess to be a wise and excellent government, but 
they buried in oblivion the very name of the people 
they so mercilessly obliterated from a national (it 
may almost be said from an earthly) existence. 

Waldeck, in referring back to the time that Cortes 
was in Tobasco, gives an account of a sick horse 
left with the Indians by that almost worshipped com- 
mander ; which, under the rich and unnatural food 
they furnished him, very naturally famished. Some 
say he was fed with grains of gold ; the natives judg- 

* " They had books made of the hark of trees, in which were notea 
down the records of past times." — Bernal Diez. 



THE HORSE DEIFIED. 



193 



ing, from the prevailing passion of his former mas- 
ters, that this would be his most satisfactory diet. 
He died, poor horse, however, as might have been 
anticipated, under their unfortunate attentions ; but 
the consequences did not end here. They erected 
an elegant temple to his memory, deified him, and 
placed him among the most prominent of their gods, 
where he received their faithful and regular devotions. 
In after years, the missionaries and Spanish priests 
had more difficulty to dissuade them from the wor- 
ship of this horse, which they called Tzimin,* than 
they had from all their other gods. From this cir- 
cumstance, it appears that this temple must have been 
built after the conquest ; and, as it possesses archi- 
tectural beauty in no respect inferior to the temples 
of a more ancient date, we may infer that the same 
race of people that produced it, may have been the 
architects of the most elaborate works among the 
ruins.f 

Bernal Diez, a companion of Cortes, who has 

* An evil genius of hideous appearance, that, it was believed, would 
devour the world. 

t " The natives of these countries have learned trades, and have 
their shops, manufactories, and journeymen, and gain their livelihood 
thereby. The gold and silver smiths work both in cas'^ metal and by 
the hammer ; and excel, as do the lapidaries and painters. The en- 
gravers execute first-rate work with their fine instruments of iron, es- 
pecially upon emeralds ; wherein they represent all the acts of the holy 
passions in such a manner, that those who had not seen them execute 
it, would not have believed such to have been done by the hand of an 
Indian. The sons of the chiefs used to be grammarians ; and were 
learning very well until they were forbidden by the holy synod, under 
an order from the Archbishop of Mexico. They excel in all manufac- 
tures, not excepting that of tapestry." — Bernal Diez. 

13 



194 THE DAYS OF MONTEZUMA. 

written a particular account of the conquest, but not 
with the elegance of De Solis, is very minute in de- 
scribing the great temples in Mexico, the gods, and the 
rich splendor of the city. One part of it was oc- 
cupied by Montezuma's dancers ; some of whom 
bore sticks on their feet, others flew in the air, and 
others danced like matachines. The gardens of the 
great Indian prince were very extensive, irrigated by 
canals of running water, and shaded with every va- 
riety of trees. In them were baths of cut stone, 
pavilions for feasting or retirement, and theatres for 
shows and for the dancers and singers ; all of which 
were kept in the most exact order by laborers em- 
ployed for the purpose. 

The market was held upon the grand square. 
Here, in places prepared for the purpose, was every 
kind of merchandise in use among them ; consisting 
of gold, silver, jewels, feathers, mantles, chocolate, 
skins, sandals, slaves, and all the varieties of food, 
cooked and in a raw state. Mechanics, in all 
branches, here performed their labors; and every 
thing appeared to be done in the greatest harmony. 
Judges regularly presided here to decide any dis- 
putes, and to see that the laws were duly executed 
and obeyed. 

A circuit was made through a number of large 
courts (the smallest of which is larger than the great 
square of Salamanca) before we entered the great 
temple, which had double enclosures, built of stone 
and lime, and the courts paved with large white cut 
stone, very clean ; and, where it was not paved, plas- 



TEMPLES — DEITIES. 195 

tered and polished. The ascent to the temple was 
by one hundred and fourteen steps; from the top 
of which was a complete view of the city and the 
surrounding neighborhood. Here were two altars, 
highly adorned, with richly wrought timbers on the 
roof; and, over the altars, gigantic figures resembling 
very fat men. One was Huitzilopochth, their war 
god, with a great face and terrible eyes. His figure 
was entirely covered with gold and jewels, and his 
body bound with golden serpents. In his right hand 
he held a bow, and in his left a bundle of arrows. 
A little idol stood by, representing his page, who 
bore a lance and target richly ornamented with gold 
and jewels. The great idol had round his neck the 
figures of human heads and hearts made of pure gold 
and silver, ornamented with precious stones of a blue 
color. On the left was the other large figure, with a 
countenance like a bear, and big shining eyes of a 
polished substance (mica) like their mirrors. The 
body of this idol was also covered with jewels. 
These two deities were said to be brothers. The 
name of this last was Tezcatepuca, and he was the 
god of the infernal regions ; and, according to their 
belief, presided over the souls of men. His body 
was covered with figures representing little devils, 
with the tails of serpents. In the summit of the 
temple, and in a recess, the timber of which was 
highly ornamented, was a figure half human and the 
other half resembling an alligator, inlaid with jewels 
and partly covered with a mantle. This idol was 
said to contain the germ and origin oi" all created 



196 THE PLACE OF SACRIFICE. 

things, and was the god of harvests and fruits. 
These places were exceedingly offensive from the 
smell of human blood, with which they were be- 
smeared. Here was an enormous drum, (the head 
was made of the skin of a large serpent,) the sound 
of which could be heard the distance of two leagues. 

At a little distance from this temple stood a tower. 
At the door were frightful idols ; by it was a place 
for sacrifice ; and, within, boilers and pots full of wa- 
ter, to dress the flesh of the victims, which was eaten 
by the priests. The idols were hke serpents and 
devils, and before them were tables and knives for 
sacrifice ; the place being covered with the blood 
which was spilt on these occasions. Crossing a 
court is another temple, wherein were the tombs of 
the Mexican nobility. Next this was yet another, 
full of skeletons and piles of bones ; each kept apart, 
but regularly arranged. In each temple were idols 
and its particular priests ; the latter of whom wore 
long vestments of black, somewhat between the dress 
of the Dominicans and canons. 

At a certain distance from the buildings last spo 
ken of were others, the idols of which were the su 
perintendent deities of marriages ; near which was 
a large structure occupied by Mexican women, who 
resided there, as in a nunnery, until they were mar- 
ried. They worshipped two female deities, who 
presided over marriages ; and to them they offered 
sacrifices, in order to obtain good husbands. 

Each province had its peculiar gods, who were 
supposed to have no concern with any other; so 



ANCIENT MEXICO — HISTORY. 197 

that, in consequence, there were a great mukiplicity 
of idols in the various districts.* Mexico was thought 
to have attained its zenith at the time Cortes first 
entered it. The city had risen up in about one hun- 
dred and thirty years (from 1388 to 1518) solely by 
the aid of its military power. As the great temple, 
however, is said to have existed a thousand years, 
this assertion is hardly reconcilable with the facts. 
The Tlascalians not only proved themselves to be as 
warlike as the Mexicans, but equally qualified as 
statesmen. They held it as a principle, that " what- 
ever was unlawful, with them, was impossible." At 
Zempoala books were seen in their temples, contain- 
ing the rites of their religion, written in imagery or 
ciphers, as was customary with the painters of Teu- 
tile, at Tabasco.f The same kind of writing was 
noticed at Mexico, done on cotton cloth. 

Waldeck says that there exists a history of the 
original Conquest of Yucatan, written by Villa Guti- 
erre, a copy of which was found in the archives of the 
cathedral at Merida. This work is very superior to the 
voluminous and undigested compilation of Cogolludo; 
at the same time it must be remarked, it carries a 
similar theological coloring and religious prejudice. 
So, though Villa Gutierre was neither priest nor monk, 
he none the less invoked, in each page, the trinity and 
the saints ; and even his book is dedicated to the ho- 
ly Virgin. This was the madness of the epoch ; Span- 
ish and American literature was entirely placed un- 
der the auspices of monkish bigots, who wrote their 

* Bernal Diez. f De Solis. 



198 HISTORIANS OF YUCATAN. 

histories in the same style as they did the lives of the 
saints. 

Besides these authors there is no other historian 
of Yucatan. I have an abridged manuscript copy oi 
CogoUudo in my possession ; but, from a close ex- 
amination, it appears to be unworthy of translation. 
The numerous writers on Mexico are well known to 
the reader. Baron Humboldt is deservedly the most 
celebrated who has treated on that subject; and his 
writings are an honor to the age. But the most re- 
markable work that has ever probably been produced, 
is that of the late Lord Kingsborough, on American 
Antiquities, which is acknowledged to be the most 
costly undertaking ever attempted by a single indi- 
vidual, of a literary kind. A copy, and the only one 
in the United States, is in the possession of the Penn- 
sylvania Library, at Philadelphia. The collection 
of materials was made by Augustine Aglis, who ed- 
ited and published it in London, in 1830. He has 
succeeded in " getting up" a splendid book, but the 
compilation falls short of its merits. It is comprised 
in seven immense folio volumes, embeUished with up- 
wards of a thousand splendid engravings, colored with 
the greatest neatness and skill. It is said that only 
about fifty copies were suffered to be struck, to be 
presented to friends. The plates were then defaced. 
It cost something like one hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars to produce this work. This patron of htera- 
ture and the arts, a short period since, died in the 
prison of Dublin, a sad instance of self-immolation to 
his own munificence ; his fate being but a melancho- 
ly inducement for others to follow his example. 







*S) 



cdl 

■hi! 






15 



« 



CHAPTER XL 

Departure from Uxmal — Abala — The Road — The Curate's Hacienda 
— Arrival at Merida — Hotel de Diligencias — Bishop Preaching — 
Strange Scenes — Parting with Jose — Departure from Merida — 
Coach and Passengers — Scenes of the Road — Zibackchen — Ac- 
commodations — Arrival at Campeachy. 

The reader will remember that the narrative of my 
journeyings terminated at Uxmal. I finished making 
my observations of those ruins, and on the 4th of 
March embarked in a Yucatan coach and four, (four 
stout Indians,) crossed the Cordilleras, and the same 
night slept at the Casa-real at Muna, distant three 
leagues. 

While waiting for my tortillas and eggs, I shall be 
pardoned for expressing my acknowledgments to the 
major-domo of the hacienda at Uxmal, to whom I was 
indebted for many kindnesses ; and it will not be 
amiss to add, that his was one of the best managed 
estates that I observed in Yucatan. 

The hacienda is built of hewn stone, taken prin- 
cipally from the ruins ; more of which the Indians 
are now engaged in bringing away for the improve- 
ments the building is at present undergoing. It is 
about eighty feet front, having one range of rooms, 
with a high and wide balcony in front and rear, with 



200 MUNA — DETENTION. 

a small chapel attached. In front is the cattle-yard, 
with its stone and rnortar troughs for water, and wells 
and cisterns at the sides ; the whole surrounded by a 
high stone wall, in the front centre of which is an 
immense arch-way, set off with pinnacled ornaments 
selected from the ruins. 

There are a large number of Indians attached to 
this hacienda, who appear well ; and so does every 
thing else connected with it. Different from many 
others, this establishment has an air of comfort and 
prosperity, much to the credit of those who supervise 
its concerns. It has its six hundred bee-hives, which 
are made of hollow logs, cut into lengths of two feet 
each. They are well arranged under sheds erected 
for the purpose — opened monthly, and the honey ex- 
tracted. They do not yield so much honey, or of so 
good a quality, neither are the bees as lively as those 
of the north. Their bees have no sting. Great at- 
tention is paid to the preservation of the wax, which is 
almost a staple in the country, so much is consumed 
in the religious exercises. 

On the following morning we were detained for the 
want of a mule, and as it had been engaged at an 
early hour, I felt not a little annoyed at the disap- 
pointment. To indemnify myself in some measure, 
I resolved to look at the town ; but it was all like other 
towns here. That which most attracted my attention 
was seeing the Indian women, with their leathern 
buckets, and coils of long rope about their heads, and 
earthen pots under their arms, going to the well, 
which is in the centre of the square, to draw water. 



INKLING OF A THEORY — AB ALA. 201 

1 thought of Rebecca — of the custom among the 
ancient Israelitish women, of performing the same 
duty — and of the lost tribes ; and I wondered if thej 
did not stray this way, and found all these large cities 
that are now tumbling to dust — and I was lost in re- 
flection, and — lost my way to the Casa-real. Mak- 
ing my course through squatted Indians and these 
female water-carriers, who had led me out of the 
path, as they have many a wiser man before, I discov- 
ered the stopping-place and waiting mule much easier 
than a solution to my new theory. 

At ten o'clock we were ready once more to set oiF 
upon our journey, over a rocky road, taking the for- 
mer from choice, the latter from necessity. After 
travelling four leagues, we passed through the small 
Indian town of Abala. This place has a very neat 
white church, which was embellished with two tur- 
rets, making a pretty appearance amidst the dulness 
of every thing around it. There being no particular 
inducement to delay here, we once more took up our 
march, and, at five o'clock, and two leagues distant, 
we arrived at an hacienda belonging to one of the prin- 
cipal curates of the province, (Isamul,) where we re- 
mained for the night. The house, although plain, 
was so arranged as to be both convenient and pleas- 
ant. It looked quite unlike any of the buildings for 
similar purposes in the country, but resembled that 
of one of those comfortable Dutch farm-houses, so 
common in Pennsylvania. It had a garden unusually 
well cultivated, and great attention was paid to the 
fruit trees. I noticed that great attention was given 



202 THE CURATE'S HACIENDA — ARRIVAL AT MERIDA. 

also to irrigation, and, all things taken into considera- 
tion, it struck me as being a place where a man might 
make himself comparatively happy. Among the in- 
mates of the house I observed a number of beautiful 
Mestizos, but they did not outnumber those of the 
curate's house in Valladolid. 

At three o'clock, on the following morning, our feet 
were in the stirrups ; and bidding a kind adieu to 
our host, we were soon upon our rocky path, under 
the light of a waning moon. It must not be supposed 
that either the excellence of the road, or the particu- 
larly early hour, held out many inducements for leaving 
such desirable quarters ; but I was anxious to reach 
Merida with the least possible delay. The distance 
was six leagues to the city, which we reached, after 
passing through several haciendas, encountering 
clouds of dust under a scorching sun, on the 6th day 
of March. The appearance of the streets, as we rode 
through them, was singular. The stores and houses 
were closed, and scarcely a person was to be seen. 
It was evidently the much respected hour of siesta. 
Clouds of the fine white dust of the streets filled the 
air. It was like entering a city in the desert of Barca. 

I stopped at the "Hotel des Diligences," which had 
been opened during my absence ; and though I could 
not but feel some compunctions at having thus de- 
serted the amiable Dona Michaele, yet as she only 
kept her house purely for the accommodation of stran- 
gers, I felt my defection to be less serious. The new 
hotel was liberally supphed with all the natural ad- 
vantages that are necessary to make its inmates com- 



PUBLIC WORSHIP. 203 

fortable. It was, in fact, un hotel Francais, and re- 
minded me strongly of those to be met with upon the 
borders of Switzerland, which, I am right glad to see, 
are finding their way into this province. Perhaps 
there is no part of the world where the traveller is 
more at a loss for accommodations upon the road, 
than in Yucatan. 

The jaded horses being provided for, I, as is my 
wont, soon made myself perfectly at home, and as 
happy as I could. I was not a little rejoiced to find 
that the hotel was provided with a bathing-room, a 
luxury of which I was not long in availing myself 
I came out completely renovated, and with all con- 
venient speed swung myself into a hammock and for- 
getfulness. 

On Sunday I attended public worship at the cathe- 
dral. The bishop delivered his last of an annual se- 
ries of ten sermons. " Heaven" was the subject of 
his discourse. The church was well filled ; the ladies, 
of course, and as usual, constituting a majority of the 
numerous assemblage that attended. They looked 
exceedingly well, though I could reconcile myself 
with difficulty to their seating themselves upon the 
cold stone floor. The words of the bishop, at the 
remote position which I occupied in the church, 
were indistinctly heard ; and, therefore, I am unable 
to give any opinion of their merits. One thing is 
certain, their author looked the prelate lo admiration. 
It was rather an ungentlemanly or thoughtless act 
of the commanding officer on parade in the adjoining 
square, to fire a feu-de-joie during the preaching. It 



204 PARTING WITH JOSE. 

had the effect of putting to rout many of the con- 
gregation, and drowning the bishop's voice, very 
much to his discomfiture. I had entertained much 
doubt respecting the popularity of the church among 
the higher order and the better informed people of 
Yucatan, and this went far to establish it. It is poli- 
cy, however, to keep it up as it is — but such exam- 
ples as this have quite a contrary tendency. 

For the last ten days the city has presented a sin- 
gular aspect. Stores have been closing and opening. 
Processions, military and ecclesiastical, have been the 
order of the day. Images, of all sizes and distinc- 
tions, have been paraded through the public streets, 
and the churches crowded with women. Prayers 
were uttered aloud in the public thoroughfares of 
the city ; and places of most resort, filled with 
both sexes, arrayed in suits of mourning. Govern- 
ment officers received indulgences, and all public 
labor was suspended. It was the enacting of the 
scenic shows of the death and rising of our Saviour. 
At half-past eight o'clock this morning, all the bells 
(and here are not a few) were put in motion. The 
Saviour had risen, and all was life — as Hfe is in 
Merida ! 

My preparations for leaving Merida were com- 
pleted. It was now late in the evening, the last 
night of my stay at Merida ; and Jose had hung about, 
for one petty excuse or other, although he was sick, 
with an affectionate reluctance to leave me for the 
last time. The cause was almost too prominent to 



DEPARTURE FOR CAMPEACHY. 205 

escape notice ; and the remembrance of his Uttle 
fraikies, and they were remarkably few, was at once 
buried in obhvion. He wanted to accompany me 
home, but his health would not permit; and I was 
obliged to forego the indulgence of his wishes, and 
my own inclination to enjoy the advantage of his 
faithful services. The time has been when I have 
parted from a good old horse with an agitated bosom, 
and could iess have been expected upon this occasion 1 
The truth must be told ; we both shed tears. I felt 
sincerely sorry to part with him. Poor Jose, God 
bless him ! all I can do for him now is to give him 
my kind wishes, and to speak of him as he is — and 
to say to my countrymen who may visit Merida, that 
if they want a boy upon whom they can depend to 
follow them faithfully through the world, Jose is the 
lad to do it. 

On the 7th of April, after experiencing a touch of 
the fever, to which all strangers are subjected in this 
country, I left Merida, by coach, for Campeachy. It 
started at five o'clock in the morning, with three pas- 
sengers ; an elderly woman and man and myself com- 
posing the load. The team galloped oif at the rate 
of ten miles the hour, and changed horses every hour 
during the route. The coach was one of four which 
were imported from Troy; and, as a sample, was 
well worthy of the high reputation the Trojan car- 
riages enjoy throughout the United States ; but the 
horses and harness were in shocking bad keeping. 

The driver was an Indian ; besides whom were 
two other attendants, who were needed, for the un- 



206 JOURNEY TO CAMPEACHY. 

skilful hands of the Indian, and the wildness of the 
horses, made the vehicle go on all sides of the rojad 
It was no uncommon occurrence, to be brought up 
against a stone wall at the side of the road ; and, in 
one instance, we were foul of an Indian hut, which 
frightened the inmates to such a degree that they ran 
out, supposing it to be an earthquake. By combin 
ing the skill and strength of our whole party, we suc- 
ceeded in getting the horses and coach again upon 
the highway. 

We stopped at a village to take breakfast, and 
passed through several towns on the road, but they 
afforded nothing worthy of remark. The country 
through which our route lay, presented the same as- 
pect as other parts we had visited. The fields were 
still covered with weeds, to burn which the proprie- 
tors of the soil were only waiting for dry weather. 
This is the only preparation the soil receives prior to 
sowing it. The progress of the coach afforded us 
much amusement, by the fright which it appeared to 
occasion to all animated nature in our way. This 
line of coaches had been only a short time estabhshed, 
and its whirling along among people and cattle, had 
a similar effect that a locomotive has among the ani- 
mals and their owners in the wilds of the far West. 
Nothing would stand before it. Away went horse 
and rider, mule and packs, to secure a safe retreat in 
the bushes, at the alarming sound of our approach. 
Our arrival in the town brought out the whole popu- 
lation, and the Indians would come round the coach 



DINNER AT ZtBACKCHEN. 207 

aching with curiosity, their countenances expressive 
both of fear and admiration. 

Dinner was procured at a town called Zibackchen, 
and we remained here, for the want of horses, during 
the night. Our dining apartment was a billiard-room, 
where we sat down to a small table, four in all ; our 
conductor making one of the number. Our elderly 
male companion had evidently seen better days. He 
was much soured at the appearance of the viands 
placed before us ; and well he might be, for, agreea- 
bly to my recollections, they were shockingly bad, 
and dirty withal. There was but one knife ; and 
that was used for the purpose of scraping the forks ; 
and yet, the charges were most extravagant. This, 
too, is the depot, under the personal supervision of 
the owners of the coaches, as we understood ; the 
principal of whom is the Secretary of State ! He, at 
least, ought to know the fact, and cause the evil to 
be abated. If I were upon those terms of intimacy 
that would warrant the freedom, with the kindliest 
motives, I would not hesitate to inform him of the 
existence of this crying evil. Our restiff fellow-pas- 
senger had spent some little time in New York, and 
was continually drawing comparisons; and, in his 
vexation at the things around him, expressed his opin- 
ion that Yucatan would never excel that State. This 
was a point upon which I felt no great disposition 
to cavil. 

I walked through the town at four o clock. The 
streets were deserted, the houses closed, and the peo- 
ple in their hammocks. At five, men were lounging 



208 ARRIVAL AT CAMPEACHY. 

about, and the ladies making their toilet, either at the 
windows or doors. This is a large town, and well 
built ; but not more than one-half of the houses are 
occupied. 

Early in the evening hammocks were slung in the 
billiard-room, (the place that had been the scene of 
our recent dinner,) and all my fellow-passengers and 
myself, without distinction of party or sex, conduc- 
tors and Indians, turned in for the night. 

At four o'clock, next morning, we were called ; 
chocolate was served, and we were soon off by the 
light of — our cigars ; our lady passenger keeping up 
the supply from an ample depository in the folds of 
her hair. The road was extremely stony, but it was 
now undergoing repairs and improvements. We ar- 
rived at Campeachy at nine o'clock ; a distance from 
Merida of forty leagues, and were set down at the 
Traveller's Hotel, immediately in front of the bay. 
Here is a fine view of the open roadstead, in which 
lie at anchor one Havana packet, and some four or 
five schooners. Near the shore are a number of ca- 
noes, engaged in the coasting trade. 







vr 







W ^. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Reception at Campeachy — The City — Public Buildings — The Coq- 
vent — The Market — Charity — An Ancient Custom — Population — 
The College — Foundations of the City — Subterraneous Caverns — 
The Suburbs — The Harbor — Climate and Health — Various Ruins 
— The Author's Collection of Idols — Dr. Morton on the Archseology 
of Yucatan — Other Ruins — Reptiles and Insects — A Concealed Na- 
tion — The Brothers Camachos. 

My reception at Campeachy was extremely grati- 
fying. There is evidently a class of society here 
which contrasts favorably with any to be found in 
the other cities of the province. The streets are 
narrow and irregular ; and have a natural pavement 
of flat stone, which is much broken, and makes an ex- 
ceedingly rough route for carriages. The buildings 
have not the clean appearance of those of Merida, 
owing to the extreme humidity that accompanies , 
the sea winds ; but they display more wealth and / 
taste. 

The public buildings on the square are of two sto- 
ries, and tastefully ornamented and painted. The 
churches, as usual, are the most conspicuous public 
works. The private houses, generally, are of one- 
story, and well painted. There are few good two- 
story houses in the place. 

The convent at Campeachy is a huge mass of stone 

14 



% 



210 THE CITY AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 

and mortar ; the walls of which bear the marks of the 
balls from the cannon of the besiegers of 1840, when 
the government troops fired upon the town. The 
cannonading was continued for three days, but with- 
out doing much execution ! The city was obliged, 
however, to capitulate, for want of ammunition and 
supplies. 

The market is well furnished with fruit, vegetables, 
and fish, and the customary supplies of meat gener- 
ally found in similar establishments throughout Mexi- 
co ; but articles are much dearer here than in other 
parts of Yucatan. This is owing, probably, to the 
great influx of strangers. The greater amount of 
money thrown into circulation has of course a ten- 
dency to enhance the value of the necessaries and 
luxuries of life, here, as elsewhere. 

Every Saturday brings from the country to the 
streets of this city a horde of Indian beggars, who are 
not to be seen here upon any other day of the week, 
and to whom alms are liberally distributed by the in- 
habitants. This is a custom, no doubt, that is hand- 
ed down from the time of the conquest. The friars 
were in the habit of giving charity to the poor on the 
same day. 

The city, including the suburbs outside the walls, 
contains a population of about fifteen thousand. 
There is an " alamede" outside these walls, which 
affords a pretty little place for a walk, and there are 
pleasant drives around in the neighborhood. There 
is a college in Campeachy similar to that of Merida, 
with six professors, the highest salary of any one of 



SUBTERRANEOUS CAVERNS. 211 

whom is six hundred dollars per annum. There are 
fifty-five pupils, besides thirteen on the foundation. 
Like all other literary institutions in this country, it 
is poorly supported. 

The town of Campeachy, built entirely of a cal- 
careous hewn stone, stands upon a foundation of the 
same substance, which extends throughout the whole 
peninsula, retreating from the sea-shore with a gradu- 
al elevation, until it reaches to the height of five hun- 
dred feet, the level of Sierra Alta, near Tecax. This 
immense rock has doubtless furnished material, before 
the conquest, for the construction of those stupen- 
dous temples, and other magnificent buildings, that 
now constitute the ruins of this country. 

The whole of Campeachy rests upon a subterra- 
neous cavern of the ancient Mayas. It is now diffi- 
cult to ascertain whether these quarries or galleries, 
which, according to the traditions of the country, 
are understood to be immense, served for the abode 
of the people who executed the work. Nothing re- 
veals the marks of man's sojournings here ; not even 
the traces of smoke upon the vaults were visible. It 
is more probable that the greater part of this excava- 
tion was used as a depository for their dead. This 
supposition has been strengthened by the discovery 
of many openings of seven feet deep by twenty inches 
in breadth, dug horizontally in the walls of the cav- 
erns. These excavations, however, are few ; and the 
galleries have been but little investigated and less un- 
derstood. Even the inhabitants of the dwellings 



212 CATACOMBS— SUBURBS. 

above know scarcely any thing respecting these dark 
habitations. 

These catacombs occasion frequent accidents 
" Some time before my arrival," says Waldeck, " th» 
centre of Moille street caved in. Happily, this gal 
lery did not extend beneath the houses. Arches were 
erected that brought the street to its original level, by 
the aid of a French engineer, M. Journot." 

The principal suburbs of Campeachy are San Ro- 
man to the south of the town, Guadaloupe and San 
Francisco to the north. Each of these has its church. 
The city has three churches and five convents. 

At the extremity of the San Roman suburb is the 
general cemetery, around which is a broken wall and 
a facade, almost in ruins, feebly protecting it from the 
observation of passengers. During the prevalence of 
the cholera, this depository was found insufficient to 
accommodate the numerous patients, and two others 
were constructed to meet the emergency. These last 
were surrounded by palisades, and are situated to the 
right of the road leading to Lerma. Nor did these 
suffice ; sculls and bones were to be seen in heaps 
above ground. 

At some distance from the cemetery is a small bat- 
tery that the sea washes at high water. About two 
hundred yards to the right of this is the pest-house, 
for the accommodation of leprous patients. This es- 
rablishment is more expensive than useful, as it has 
been long satisfactorily known that the disease is not 
contagious. Those unhappily detained prisoners 



THE HARBOR— CLIMATE. 



213 



there are lodged and fed gratuitously, and no labor 
is exacted from them. 

Within less than a mile of this latter building is an 
hacienda, called Buena Vista ; near it is a colossal 
tree of the mimosa class, which may be seen for more 
than a league at sea. To the east-north-east of the 
hacienda is an opening, similar to those above men- 
tioned, that is supposed to lead to the subterraneous 
caverns. It is concealed from the eye of a careless 
observer, and is very httle known. This, however, 
is very convenient for smugglers, who resort to it in 
the night to conceal contraband merchandise, and 
who are, perhaps, the only persons that make these 
places, in the bosom of the earth, materially service- 
able. 

The harbor at Campeachy is shallow, and a ves- 
sel which draws more than six feet is obliged to an 
chor a league from the shore. In spite of this disad- 
vantage, from the superior excellence of the timber, 
and other causes, a number of vessels are built 
here, measuring a hundred feet in the keel, which are 
launched by the aid of ingenious contrivances invent- 
ed for the purpose. 

A theatre has been erected here under the archi- 
tectural direction of M. Journot, before named. This 
is one of the most beautiful edifices of the place. 
The internal decorations, however, will not compare 
with the handsome exterior. 

The climate of this part of the province appears to 
be healthy. The heat is extreme at noon ; but the 
land breeze in the morning, and the sea breeze in the 



214 



RUINS IN THE VICINITY. 



evening, render the atmosphere, at those periods, 
most dehghtful. During the rainy season, which com- 
mences about the last of May, and ends in Septem- 
ber, intermittent fevers are quite prevalent. These, 
however, by temperate and regular habits on the part 
of the inhabitants, and attention to the wearing of 
flannel, and such garments as are suited to the changes 
of the weather, and keeping from unnecessary expo- 
sure, may, in a great measure, be avoided. 

In the neighborhood of Campeachy are many ru- 
ins which richly deserve the attention of travellers, 
but which the time to which my short excursion was 
Hmited, would not permit me the gratification of 
visiting to any extent. Upon a small river near 
Champoton, some leagues inland, where it enlarges 
to a very considerable lake, are situated many ruins 
of a kind of sculpture displaying the finest taste ; but 
the edifices are so buried beneath the water and earth 
that surround them, that it would require great la- 
bor and perseverance to investigate them. Four 
leagues to the north of Campeachy there exist many 
tumuli, which cannot be visited during the rainy sea- 
son without much risk and inconvenience. Three 
leagues farther north is a Httle peninsula, called Jai- 
na. Here is situated a very large tumulus, around 
which have been found a number of small earthen 
figures, and some flint heads of lances, very finely 
formed. To the antiquarian and the curious this 
ruin presents many attractions. 

From this tumulus, and other places contiguous to 
ruins of immense cities, in the vicinity of Campeachy, 



IDOLS AND UTENSILS OF THE ANCIENTS. 215 

were procured among the crumbling walls, some skel- 
etons and bones that have evidently been interred for 
ages, also a collection of idols, fragments, flint spear- 
heads, and axes ; besides sundry articles of pottery- 
ware, well wrought, glazed, and burnt. 

These interesting relics are now in the possession 
of the author. The reader will observe the Engrav- 
ings of the most important, and those that are in the 
most perfect state of preservation. 

Plates No. I., IL, and III., are correct designs of the 
Idols, which are supposed to have been the house- 
hold gods of the people who inhabited these regions. 
They are hollow, and contain balls about the size of 
a pea, that are supposed to be formed of the ashes 
of the victims that have been sacrificed to the par- 
ticular god in which they are deposited. 

Plate No. IV. represents fragments composed of the 
same material as the Idols. Whether these were in- 
tended for the same, or ornaments to their vessels, 1 
am unable to decide. 

Plate No. V. represents the designs of the pots and 
vessels of the collection, which were probably used as 
burners in the performance of religious rites and cere- 
monies. 

Plate No. VI. represents a Turtle, beautifully 
wrought in a fine hard earthy substance. This fig- 
ure, by its frequent appearance throughout the ruins 
of Yucatan, was undoubtedly one of great importance, 
either from its religious or civil associations. This 
plate also represents an earthen pan, well wrought, 
(apparently turned in a lathe,) and glazed, which 



V 



216 RELICS. 

was probably one of their household utensils ; also 
a stone pounder, which was probably used in the same 
department. 

The Idols, which are, so far as I am at present in- 
formed, the only ones from Yucatan ever before 
brought into this country, are unlike any that have 
been found in other parts of Mexico. I have com- 
pared them with those brought from the city of Mexi- 
co by Hon. Joel R. Poinsett, and now in the cabi- 
net of the American Philosophical Society in Phila- 
delphia, and have been able to discover no analogy 
between them. This fact gives color for the pre- 
sumption that the people prepared these penates ac- 
cording to their respective tastes, and with little 
reference to any standard or canon. 

The bones and other relics of the persons who 
had been for a very long time dead, were now nearly 
decomposed. Being under the impression that these 
remains might assist in explaining the origin of the 
early inhabitants, or throw light upon other difficul- 
ties in the archaeology of Yucatan, I determined to 
preserve and bring them with me. Immediately 
upon my arrival in Philadelphia I presented these 
remains to Dr. Morton, a gentleman who is so well 
known to the scientific world that it is unnecessary 
for me to say, that any opinion which he would be 
led to by their examination would deserve, and re- 
ceive, the highest consideration from men of science 
throughout the world. A few days before the pres- 
ent chapter went to press, but too late to notice the 
fact in a more appropriate place, I had the honor of 



"K" 1. 




,/ '/' Ltingf :).i '" H' n^ ^^ 



^° 2. 




5^° 3 




i 



N" 5 




4i '^ High 4 "f Dzamtter 



^i •? Htqh 3 '-"■ DioJ-neteJ- 




Ji "^JJioTn^tej-di 'f Hi^h 



¥° 6. 




J "^Long 3 Wide 




^ ^^>^ diameter 3"'^ mheigJil. 




y '^''ksi^/lt 6 i*^/^ diameder . 



DR. MORTON'S EXAMINATION. 217 

receiving a letter from Dr. Morton, in which he fa- 
vors me with the result of his examination ; an atten- 
tion for which I am the more grateful, inasmuch as 
it was accompanied with a permission to make any 
use of the writer's remarks which, in my opinion, 
would be most acceptable to my readers. I have no 
hesitation in presenting to them all the contents of 
the above communication which are pertinent to the 
subject about which we are concerned : — 

" Such is the extremely disintegrated state of some 
of these bones, and sojittle animal matter remains 
in their composition, that I should suppose them to 
belong to an ancient period in the history of our 
aboriginal nations ; a conjecture which is sustained 
by the circumstances under which they were found. 
One of these skeletons is that of a man perhaps 
twenty-five years of age, with large bones and no 
trace of epiphyses. A few fragments of cranial bones 
are also large and massive ; which remark is also 
applicable to both the upper and lower jaws and the 
teeth, which latter are singularly perfect. The os 
calcis, (heel bone,) and other parts of the foot, are 
of delicate proportions ; thus presenting that contrast 
between the broad head and small hands and feet, which 
has long been observed as one of the characteristics of 
our native tribes. Parts of a second skeleton, from the 
same mound, have belonged to a smaller person ; but 
they are so much broken as to preclude any certain 
indications of age or sex. 

" Of the two remaining skeletons, only a few frag- 
ments of the long bones, and others of the hands and 



218 SCATTERED RUINS. 

feet, remain. They are much larger than those al- 
ready mentioned, and have no doubt pertained to 
individuals above the ordinary stature. 

" I am extremely indebted to you for the opportu- 
nity you have thus afforded me of examining and 
comparing these ancient relics of our native Indian 
race ; for, dilapidated as they are, their characters, as 
far as I can ascertain them, correspond with all the 
osteological remains of that people w^hich have hith- 
erto come under my observation ; and go to confirm 
the position, that all the American tribes (excepting 
the Esquimaux, who are obviously of Asiatic origin) 
are of the same unmixed race. I have examined 
the sculls (now in my possession) of four hundred 
individuals, belonging to tribes which have inhabited 
almost every region of North and South America, 
including the civilized as well as the savage commu- 
nities, and I find the same type of organization to 
pervade and characterize them all. 

" I much regret that we have in this country so 
few sculls of the Mongolian or Polar tribes of north- 
ern Asia. These are all-important in deciding the 
question whether the aboriginal American race is 
peculiar, and distinct from all others ; a position 
which I have always maintained, and which I think 
will be verified when the requisite means of com- 
parison are procured." 

At Cape Catoche is an entire city buried beneath 
the luxurious vegetation, which has not yet attracted 
much attention from visiters. From this circum- 
stance, probably, some singular results might be the 



REPTILES AND INSECTS. 219 

reward of those who have the enterprise to examine 
these ruins. Near the river Lagartos, and upon its 
banks, stand two lonely pyramids. Upon the east- 
ern shore of the main land, opposite to the island of 
Cozumel, there appears a long line of ruined edifices, 
occupying an extent of ground nearly equal to that 
over which are spread the ruins of Uxmal. 

At point Soliman are other ruins of great interest 
and little known. On the south side of Espiritu Santo 
Bay are also very extensive ruins. In following the 
route leading to Bacalar, one may discover towers, 
whose summits overtop the surrounding trees. 

All the Cordilleras, from Tecax to Muna, is strewed 
with ruins of towns and isolated monuments. Who 
shall tell how many myriads of men were required 
to erect and to people such numerous and stupendous 
cities ! 

There are many poisonous reptiles and insects m 
Yucatan, whose bite is most deadly. The Indians, 
however, have a ready specific in the various plants 
which abound here, and which renders them entirely 
harmless. 

There is a district of country situated between 
Guatemala, Yucatan, and Chiapas that has never yet 
been subdued. This section is surrounded by moun- 
tains, and is said to be inaccessible, except by one way, 
and that not generally known. No one yet, who has 
had the boldness to follow the inhabitants to then* 
wild retreat, has ever returned to render an account 
of their journey. The inhabitants are represented 
as speaking the Maya and Tchole languages, and 



220 A CONCEALED NATION. 

many of them as conversing well in Spanish. From 
the latter circumstance, they are enabled to visit the 
nearest cities, sell their tobacco, the principal article 
they cultivate, and afterwards to return to their re- 
treats. They are constituted of the Lacandrons and 
other savage tribes ; are expert warriors, remarkably 
athletic, and very cruel. They are worshippers of 
idols, and their religious ceremonies are said to have 
undergone little or no change. 

Palenque is in the neighborhood of this settlement ; 
and Waldeck, who says he has conversed with some 
of these people, understood that they had white persons 
among them — but whether they stay voluntarily, oi 
are detained as prisoners, he has not mentioned. The 
same nation is spoken of by Mr. Stephens. Then 
number is estimated at thirty thousand ; their seclud- 
ed mode of life makes it almost impossible to arrivt 
at any thing like correct impressions respecting them. 
The Indians of Yucatan and the neighboring pro- 
vinces have been seen in conversation with persons 
from this district ; they, however, appear to know as 
little of the people of whom I speak as others. Could 
a friendly intercourse, by any possibility, be establish- 
ed with this surprising country, there is scarcely a 
doubt that a complete knowledge of the former in- 
habitants of the immense ruins scattered throughout 
the provinces would be revealed. That their temples 
and records remain in safety, and are capable of 
speaking to posterity, there can scarcely be a ques- 
tion. 

I doubt if the above be a true estimate of their 



THE BROTHERS CAMACHO. 221 

numbers, since they have been enabled to sustain 
themselves for ages (no one knows how long) against 
enemies and intestine wars and dissolution. It would 
be more reasonable to suppose that they are the out- 
cast Pelasgi of some invading nation, and the rem- 
nants of a power that once defended those wasted 
towns that now lie a huge mass of scattered ruins. 
The gathered fragments of Palenque, and other con- 
quered places of equal importance, may have concen- 
trated their broken strength within the boundaries 
of these hills, and, under the strong impulse of des- 
pe-ration, they may have preserved their nationality 
in defiance of all the force that surrounded them. It 
may well excite universal astonishment, when the fact 
becomes known, that there actually exists, within a 
territory of five hundred miles, a distinct people, that 
have governed themselves for ages, and that they 
continue to do so without assistance or protection. 
It would be a lesson to mankind to ascertain how 
they have managed their self-governing principles, 
and how they have preserved the national indi- 
viduality. Three centuries have transpired since the 
conquest ; and, if neither Yankee nor Irishman have 
found his way among these Lacandrones before this, 
it deserves the careful consideration both of the psy- 
chologist and the statesman. 

I had the pleasure of meeting two padres in Cam- 
peachy ; and, as this is my first offence of the kind, I 
hope to be forgiven for mentioning their names — the 
brothers Camacho. This I do solely with a view 
of promoting antiquarian research. These gentlemen 



222 EMBARKATION. 

have devoted themselves to science and learning ; and 
they are the only ones I encountered during my absence 
vi^ho were enthusiasts in regard to the interesting ruins 
of Yucatan. They have spent much labor in individual 
examinations; have sacrificed liberally for the benefit 
of travellers ; and would, if they lived in a more en- 
lightened country, be respected and honored. My 
visit to their house was an interesting one. They 
were alone with their cats! — Their apartments pre- 
sented the appearance of a real curiosity-shop, or a 
necromancer's conjuring room, filled up, as they were, 
with every thing wonderful, and strange, and antique. 
They were extremely kind ; and presented me many 
interesting antiquities of their country. I left them 
and their city with regret; they were among the very 
few whom during my absence I had met with plea- 
sure and parted from with regret. 

I must now close this rambling account of my jour- 
neying in Yucatan. 

I embarked from Campeachy on the eleventh day 
of April at daylight, on board of a small American 
schooner bound for New Orleans, where I arrived on 
the twentieth, after an absence of four months, which 
I calendar among the most instructive months of my 
life. 

Though my journal terminates here, I trust I shall 
be pardoned, by a portion of my readers at least, for 
soliciting their attention to some further particulars 
connected with the present political condition of 
Yucatan, and also to a brief criticism of tlie Maya 
language, to which allusion has already been made. 



CONCLUSION OF JOURNAL. 



223 



However imperfect these discussions may be, I trust 
they may not be found wholly without profit to the 
very large portion of my countrymen who, like myself, 
have never before had their attention distinctly called 
to the consideration of these subjects. 




CHAPTER XIII. 

Political History of Yucatan — The Rochelanos — A Civil Revolution— 
A Tumultuary Movement in the Interior — Santiago Iman — Attack 
on Espita — Retreat to San Fernando— Quiet Restored for a Time — 
Colonel Roquena — Attack on Tizimin — Return of the Troops— At- 
tack on Valladolid — Capi,tulation — Succession of Events — A New 
Constitution — The New Congress — New Party — Opinions — Phy- 
sical Incapacity for Independence — The Press of Yucatan. 

It might be well enough for me to adopt the ex- 
ample of Fielding, so far as to precede this chapter 
with a stage direction of this kind: " To be skipped 
by those who are not fond of politics." The politi- 
cal history of Yucatan necessarily possesses but little 
interest to any class of foreign readers, and yet I could 
not but think that some notice of that kind might add 
symmetry to a work which relies so much for its 
value upon its record of institutions and customs, 
which are indebted for their shape and character to 
the political condition of the people to whom they 
belong. For that reason I present the substance of 
my own observations and inquiries, without pretend- 
ing, however, that the following remarks will answer 
half of the questions pertaining to this subject, which 
a student of political science would be disposed 
to ask. 




POLITICAL HISTORY OF YUCATAN. 225 

Yucatan, since its conquest by the Spaniards, and 
until the year 1839, was a province of the great Mexi- 
can Confederacy, and formed one of the United Prov- 
inces of Mexico. For several years, how^ever, previ- 
ous to 1839, the tranquillity of Mexico had been 
disturbed by a party called Rochelanos, who insisted 
upon the independence of Yucatan, or else a more 
liberal central government. Their agitations finally 
placed their party at the head of the government. 
In the year 1837 this party was overthrown and re- 
moved from power, having lost the elections by an 
overwhelming majority ; indeed, so decided was the 
triumph of their opponents, that they dared not resist, 
and a civil revolution was effected, for the first time 
since the independence of the country. They imme- 
diately commenced agitating and plotting, but with 
no decided success until the year 1839. 

With a view of overturning the then existing gov- 
ernment, and ousting the incumbents of office from 
their places, the Rochelanos favored covertly a design 
on the part of those styhng themselves Federalists, to 
regain the power they had lost in 1834. The 29th 
of May, 1839, witnessed a tumultuary movement in 
the village of Tizimin, a small town of the interior, 
where a militia captain, one Santiago Iman, at the 
head of a handful of deserters from the third battal- 
ion of local militia, counting on the co-operation of 
several leading personages, set up the standard of re- 
volt, under the specious pretext of proclaiming the 
Federal constitution of 1824. A feigned attack was 
immediately made on the neighboring village of Es- 

15 



226 TUMULTUARY MOVEMENT. 

pita, a place of some importance, containing about 
three thousand inhabitants, and distant from Tizi- 
min six leagues. 

The mihtarj commander at Espita had engaged 
himself to act in concert, but at the critical moment 
he played false, and deceived the hopes of the lead- 
ers in the plot. He received an intimation from Iman 
to surrender, as had been previously agreed upon, but 
retained the messengers, and made preparations foi 
defence. Iman marched to the attack in the night, 
and, much to his surprise, met with resistance. A 
very hot firing (as it was styled in the bulletins) was 
kept up for nearly four hours ; but, strange to say, 
only one was killed, a negro, from the window of one 
of the houses behind which he had posted himself 
Before daylight the firing ceased, and Iman returned 
unmolested to Tizimin. Those who had instigated 
him to take the step having failed in their engage- 
ments to him, his situation now became very critical, 
and he was left entirely to his own resources. A re- 
treat to San Fernando was determined on and exe- 
cuted. This is a small village seven leagues from 
Tizimin, to the northward, inhabited by a colony of 
negroes from St. Domingo, numbering about seventy 
males. Here he remained, and threw up some forti- 
fications, composed chiefly of stone barricades across 
the roads at the entrance of the village, and for the 
purpose of obstructing their advance, cut down the 
trees lining the roads by which the troops were to 
pass. Nearly two months elapsed before he was at- 
tacked — then by about four hundred men, chiefly 



THE "HERO" IMAN. 227 

militia, under the orders of the commander of Espi- 
ta, aheady named. As might have been anticipated 
from the character of this person, nothing of impor- 
tance was effected ; but after a great deal of noise 
. and smoke, the defenders ran away, and the attack- ■ 
ing party entered, without killing one or taking a 
single prisoner. This was afterwards trumpeted as 
a signal victory, and the " hero," as he was styled, 
greatly eulogized. The revolution was officially de- 
clared to be terminated ; but notwithstanding, as no 
pursuit was ever made, a sufficiency of time was al- 
lowed to the insurgents to reunite their scattered 
numbers. 

A long time was spent in inactivity on the part of 
the government troops, until at last, after some slight 
brushes, Tizimin was evacuated by its garrison, and 
again occupied by Iman, who, finding himself with 
no other resource, bethought himself of enlisting the 
sympathies of the Indians, by offering them a dis- 
charge for the future from the religious contributions 
paid by them. This leader, who was destitute him- 
self of talent and instruction, and in every respect a 
very common man, could not foresee the influence 
this would have on the contest ; but the most well 
informed men in the country knew its importance, 
and feared ultimately a re-enactment of the bloody 
scenes of St. Domingo. Numbers of Indians flocked 
to Tizimin, and contributed, with their persons and 
such small means as they possessed, to the mainte- 
nance of the struggle. Supplies of cattle, turkeys, 
fowls, corn, &c., were carried by them to the general, 



228 ATTACK ON VALLADOLID. 

as they styled Iman, and the means thus furnished 
him of sustaining himself. The government, at last 
aware of the real importance of quelling in time this 
movement, made every exertion, and a division of 
about six hundred men marched for Tizimin, under 
the command of Colonel Roquena. This officer, 
w^ho is said to possess talent and bravery, but who 
exhibited neither on this occasion, attacked the place 
on the 12th of December, in solid column, marching 
directly to the point, without an effort to outflank, 
select a weak point, or cut off the retreat of the ene- 
my. The whole column was held in check in a nar 
row road before a common stone barricade for nearly 
six hours. After losing about fifty men, one of the 
companies carried the place at the point of the bay- 
onet, and the rest of the division then marched into 
the place. The defenders retreated, almost without 
loss or pursuit, just as at San Fernando, and a pom- 
pous description was given of the brilliant victory. 

The troops were afterwards stationed at different 
points, and the colonel returned to Campeachy, be- 
lieving nothing more remained to be done ! The 
garrison of Tizimin was finally withdrawn, and the 
place re-occupied by the insurgents. Things remain- 
ed in this state of indecision ; the resources of the 
government were absorbed uselessly in the mainte- 
nance of troops and officers, who took no interest in 
the cause, until the 11th of February, 1840, an at- 
tack was made on the city of Valladolid, then garri- 
soned by three hundred men, commanded by Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Arans. This brave officer determined 



DEATH OF COLONEL ROQUENA. 229 

to discharge his duty, and knowing his subordinates 
to have been tampered with, marched in person at 
the head of some guerrilla parties, to attack the insur- 
gents, who had obtained an entrance in the " barrio" 
of Sisal. He was killed, and some two or three 
others, by shots from the houses. Nothing was 
thought of after his fall but capitulating. That night 
the troops yielded up their arms to a motley looking 
band of Indians, led on by some of the outcasts of 
society, deserters, assassins, &c. A meeting was held 
at the town hall, and the pronunciamiento of Valla- 
dolid given to the world, seconding the plan of Iman, 
and re-announcing the Constitution of 1824. From 
the importance of the place, its example was follow- 
ed by the surrounding villages and towns, and in the 
course of a week, Merida, the capital of the State, 
declared for the new order of things ; several of 
the military taking a part in the proceedings. No- 
thing was left but Campeachy, the head-quarters 
of the Commanding General Rivas, with a garri- 
son of about one thousand men. Marches and 
countermarches were effected, until the siege of the 
place, which finally capitulated in June, leaving the 
whole State in the hands of the so styled Feder- 
alists. 

An effort had been made before the taking of Val- 
ladolid to vary the plan of the revolution, providing 
for the removal of the Commanding General Rivas, 
who was particularly obnoxious, and changing the 
personale of the administration ; but Iman, who had 
been abandoned to his own resources, was then ob- 



230 FEARS OF THE CURATES. 

stinate and could not be managed. At Merida like- 
wise, on the occasion of their pi'onunciamiento, the 
Rochelanos endeavored to usurp the direction of the 
movement, which had now become popular ; for 
many of the most influential and talented men, per- 
ceiving the inability of the government to weather 
the storm, owing to the bad faith and cowardice of 
its supporters, had resolved upon taking an active 
part, and endeavoring to guide and direct the mind 
of the automaton Iman ; who, possessing none of his 
own, was pleased and glad to make use of the judg- 
ment of others, as thus he was enabled to figure in 
high sounding proclamations, to which he could 
scarcely affix his signature. Several of the higher 
clergy or curates came forward in opposition to these 
revolutionary movements, actuated by various mo- 
tives ; one of which we would fain beheve was a dis- 
interested patriotism. They were well aware of the 
danger that menaced the white race in Yucatan, sur- 
rounded by an Indian population four times their 
number, should the revolution be any longer protract- 
ed. Another strong motive was the desire to save 
their incomes and benefices, directly attacked by the 
plan of Iman. This they succeeded in doing in part, 
as the males still pay the usual religious contribution; 
the females only being exempted by a decree of the 
Legislature of 1840. The attempt of the Rochela- 
nos was a complete failure, and only served to sink 
them still lower in public opinion, and to justify the 
estimation in which they had always been held — of 
artful and designing intriguers. 



NEW CONSTITUTION DECLARED. 231 

The work of the revolution was now completed, 
as far as the original design went ; namely, that of a 
change of men, for oi principles but few were involved. 
The ball did not however stop here,- as a number of 
political schemers, with a view of grafting themselves 
on, and identifying themselves with the revolution, 
brought forward a number of new projects, which in 
the first session of the legislature were carried out. 
The clergy and the military were directly attacked, 
deprived of their exclusive privileges, and many of the- 
latter dismissed. A new constitution for the State 
was decreed on the thirty-first of March, 1841, not 
essentially different from its predecessors, except in 
the fact of its religious toleration. The governor of 
the State is restricted to certain limited powers in the 
constitution, but these restrictions in the end are nom- 
inal. From some pretext or other, he is almost always 
invested with extraordinary authority ; enabling him 
to punish without trial, not only the guilty, but even 
such as he may choose to consider suspicious. 

The Congress or Legislature was not elected for 
the purpose of forming a new constitution, hut it de- 
clared itself to be invested with the necessary powers, 
and proceeded to exercise them. It also passed a 
tariff, greatly reducing the former scale of duties ; 
although the Federal Constitution of 1824, proclaim- 
ed in the State, makes this entirely and exclusively 
to lie within the prerogatives of the general Congress 
under the new government. A thousand such infrac- 
tions have been committed, without exciting remark 
or surprise. The tariff was altered and reduced, with 



232 INCAPACITY FOR SELF-GOVERNMENT. 

a view of discouraging smuggling, and thereby in- 
creasing the revenue. It had this effect for a short 
time; but the clandestine traffic is carried on as briskly 
as ever, and the country having been overstocked 
with goods, the amount of duties collected has greatly 
fallen off. The whole income of the State does not 
exceed at present seven hundred thousand dollars per 
annum. 

For the past year and a half, a new party, if such 
it may be called, has attracted attention. The object 
in view is to continue the separation from the rest of 
the Mexican Republic. It is called the independent 
party, and is composed of a few young enthusiasts, 
and a number of older pohticians, who, for the purpose 
of gratifying their own ends and interests, and from 
their connexion with some of the lawless men en- 
gaged in the late revolution, contrive to make it ap- 
pear that there is a great deal of enthusiasm prevail- 
ing among the people ; and that public opinion is 
decidedly in favor of the independence of the penin- 
sula. To enter into arguments for the purpose of 
disproving this, is perfectly unnecessary. Such a 
thing as public opinion is unknown ; the masses are 
too ignorant, and have been too long accustomed to 
dictation and pupilage, to have any opinion. This 
is demonstrated by the mere fact of every revolution- 
ary movement having triumphed since their emanci- 
pation from the Spanish yoke ; which clearly proves, 
that either there is nothing deserving the name of 
people, or else that they take no interest in public 
affairs, but allow themselves to be the playthings of 
every ambitious demagogue or military leader. 



DANGEROUS DISPARITY OF POPULATION. 233 

The country is not destined ever to be of any con- 
siderable importance in the political scale. Its re- 
sources are very limited ; its capital small ; its soil by 
no means fertile ; it possesses neither good roads to 
any extent, nor a single navigable river ; manufac- 
tures are almost unknown, and agriculture is in the 
most neglected state. How then can Yucatan sus- 
tain itself alone, or ever figure as an independent na- 
tion ? The idea is absurd, and could only be enter- 
tained by an enthusiast, and one totally ignorant of 
the elements required to constitute national greatness 
and prosperity. 

Another circumstance worthy of consideration is 
the existence of a large colored population, far out- 
numbering the whites. Should Yucatan be left to 
itself, an insurrection among the Indians would be 
productive of the most awful calamities ; and in that 
case, being entirely isolated, no foreign aid could be 
looked for to subdue the danger. The glimpse the 
Indians have just caught of what they may do, and 
their exertions in the last revolution being rewarded 
by a diminution in the amount of their onerous re- 
ligious contributions, may probably stimulate them to 
make an effort to free themselves from the bondage 
of the whites. Many intelligent and well-informed 
men, residents and natives of the country, fear this may 
ultimately be the result ; and it is on this account 
chiefly they regret the employment of Indians in 
the late contest. The chord touched by Iman 
has vibrated, the way has been shown to design- 
ing and unprincipled men, of causing an excite- 



234 CRITICAL STATE OF AFFAIRS. 

ment and making themselves fearful ; thej have only 
to hold out promises, however fallacious, to this race, 
and ensure themselves a certain measure of importance 
and notoriety. Ere long some " Tecumseh" or 
" Black Hawk" may rise up, and the most disastrous, 
heart-rending, and bloody scenes will be re-enacted. 

This is the distinguishing feature in the last revo- 
lution ; it is certainly fraught with danger to the 
white race, yet in reward of his services the disinter- 
ested patriot, the new Washington, as he is styled by 
his sycophants, the leader and associate of deserters 
and assassins, Santiago Iman, is now created Briga- 
dier General. The sphere is however too elevated 
for him to hope to maintain his position ; and the 
slightest change will be sufficient to consign him to 
his native insignificance. 

The state of affairs is now very critical : General 
Santa Ana, possessed, to say the least, of considera- 
ble energy, is at the head of affairs in Mexico : he 
menaces Yucatan with an invasion ; and we know 
enough of the state of the country, and the feelings 
of its inhabitants, to say, that should he verify his in- 
tentions by sending an expedition, however small, he 
would meet with co-operation, and such aid as would 
enable him quickly and with certainty to subjugate 
the country. 

In attempting to present a politico-historical 
sketch of the province of Yucatan, my duty would be 
but imperfectly discharged if I failed to notice its 
newspaper press, an engine which in all civihzed 
countries at the present day has come to exercise 



THE PRESS. 235 

tremendous political influence. It is almost unneces- 
sary for me to say that the direct action of the press 
upon public opinion here is quite inconsiderable, for 
there is but little pubhc opinion to work upon, and 
but few papers competent to exercise any influence 
upon it. 

There are only two or three small papers published 
at Merida. These are mostly filled with stories, local 
news, and markets, an incomplete marine hst, and a 
collection of advertisements, that too plainly indicate 
the fallen condition of trade. At Campeachy there is 
a single small periodical, devoted to literature, and 
very poorly patronised. These represent the whole 
editorial strength of Yucatan. These papers never 
pretend to differ in opinion with the government upon 
any question of public policy. They do not aspire to 
control public opinion, except that opinion may be at 
variance with the wishes of the " powers that be." 
There is no freedom of discussion about the policy 
of the government or the religious establishments of the 
country, allowed or ever asked. What of interest 
these papers possess, therefore, arises from the stories 
which they occasionally pubhsh, and the local news. 
It is obvious that the full force and efficacy of the 
newspaper have never been realized in any part of 
Mexico. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Remarks on American Languages in general — Conflicting Opinions of 
Philologists — Religious Zeal a Stimulus that has produced the 
Grammars and Vocabularies of the American Languages — Sketch 
of the Grammar of the Maya Tongue — Concluding Observations 
respecting its Origin. 

The origin and the mutual relations of the Ameri- 
can languages have long been favorite topics of dis- 
cussion among philologists ; but their researches and 
speculations have led to results so contradictory and 
utterly irreconcilable, that we are left, after a thor- 
ough perusal of the leading works upon the subject, 
in the same state of doubt and uncertainty with 
which we commenced it. Mr. Gallatin, in the pre- 
fatory letter to his learned and profound essay, enti- 
tled "A Synopsis of the Indian Tribes within the 
United States, East of the Rocky Mountains, and in 
the British and Russian Possessions in North Amer- 
ica," remarks, that " amid the great diversity of 
American languages, considered only in reference to 
their vocabularies, the similarity of their structure and 
grammatical forms has been observed and pointed 
out by the American philologists. The substance of 
our knowledge in that respect will be found, in a con- 
densed form, in the appendix. The result appears 



OPINIONS OF PHILOLOGISTS. 237 

to confirm the opinions already entertained on that 
subject by Mr. Du Ponceau, Mr. Pickering, and 
others ; and to prove that all the languages, not only 
of our own Indians, but of the native inhabitants of 
America, from the Arctic Ocean to Cape Horn, have, 
as far as they have been investigated, a distinct char- 
acter common to all, and apparently differing from 
those of the other continent with which we are the 
most familiar." Mr. Gallatin, however, in a note ap- 
pended to this paragraph, qualifies it by stating that 
" the grammar of the language of Chili is the only one, 
foreign to the immediate object of the 'Synopsis,' with 
which a comparison has been introduced. Want of 
space did not permit him to extend the inquiry into 
the language of Mexico and other parts of Spanish 
America." Mr. Bradford, however, in his " Research- 
es into the Origin and History of the Red Race," p. 
309, states unqualifiedly that " philologists have ex- 
amined into the form and character of the American 
languages, and have established satisfactorily that 
they have all sprung from one common source. The 
features of resemblance are such as enter into their 
elementary construction ; the diversities, those to 
which all languages are exposed, by the separation 
and dispersion of those who speak them." 

On the other hand. Baron Von Humboldt, in his 
' Pohtical Essay on the Kingdom of New Spain," 
vol. i. p. 138, after some remarks upon the mi- 
grations of the American tribes, proceeds to state 
that " the great variety of languages still spoken in 
the kingdom of Mexico proves a great variety of 



238 OPINIONS OF PHILOLOGISTS. 

races and origin. The number of these languages 
exceeds twenty, of which fourteen have grammars 
and dictionaries tolerably complete. The following 
. are their names: the Mexican or Aztec language; the 
Otomite ; the Tarasc ; the Zapotec ; the Mistec ; the 
Maya or Yucatan ; the Totonac ; the Popolouc ; the 
Matlazing; the Huastec; the Mixed; the Caquiquel; 
the Taraumar ; the Tepehuan ; and the Cora. It 
appears that the most part of these languages, far from 
being dialects of the same, (as some authors have falsely 
advanced,) are at least as different from one another 
as the Greek and the German, or the French and the 
Pohsh. This is the case with at least seven lan- 
guages of New Spain, of which 1 possess the vocabu- 
laries. The variety of idioms spoken by the people 
of the new continent, and which, without the least 
exaggeration, may be stated at some hundreds, offers 
a very striking phenomenon, particularly when we 
compare it with the few languages spoken in Asia and 
Europe." 

We might give quotations from other writers, of an 
equally contradictory nature, were it our design to 
write a treatise upon the origin or the resemblances 
of the American languages in general. We intend, 
however, to confine our attention solely to the lan- 
guage of Yucatan, or the Maya tongue, mentioned 
above, by Humboldt, as one of the original languages 
of New Spain. 

The Maya was the sole language spoken through- 
out the peninsula of Yucatan, and the northern por- 
tion of Guatemala, at the time of the first settlement 



EFFORTS OF THE JESUITS. 239 

of the Spaniards in Campeachy. The difficulty of 
opening an intercourse with the Indians, and of mas- 
tering their language, was at first exceedingly great ; 
but was finally surmounted by the learning and re- 
ligious zeal of the Catholic priesthood, who, after years 
of incessant labor and self-denial, under the most dis- 
couraging circumstances, succeeded not only in ac- 
quiring a knowledge of the Maya tongue, sufficient to 
enable them to converse with and preach to the na- 
tives, but to invent a written language, and to compose 
a grammar and a vocabulary. It is impossible to re- 
flect upon the physical and mental exertions of the 
Catholic missionaries among the Indians of America, 
without admiration. The Jesuits in Paraguay, Chili, 
Peru, and, in truth, throughout the whole of South 
America, animated by an unextinguishable zeal in the 
cause of religion, buried themselves in the most remote 
districts, in the midst of the most appalling dangers, 
and quietly and undauntedly set about the task of 
conquering the Indian, not with the sword, but with 
the pen ; and they ceased not until they had obtained 
that key to his heart, in the shape of an embodied 
language, which all the political changes of the con- 
tinent, during the lapse of centuries, have not been 
able to wrest from them. The Indian in Yucatan 
and Guatemala, as well as in South America, ac- 
knowledges no authority but that of the priest, and it is 
through the influence of the Church alone, that the 
temporal power is enabled to keep up even the sem- 
blance of government. The Padre is to the Indian 
a guide, father, and friend ; he consults him on all 



240 FIRST MAYA GRAMMAR. 

occasions. We hazard little in saying that through- 
out nine tenths of the peninsula of Yucatan, if we 
except the seaport towns, the entire control of the 
Indians is in the hands of the priesthood, and that 
the political relations now existing as between the 
government and the governed, would be instantly dis- 
solved were the clergy to withhold their co-opera- 
tion ; and that the result would be the same, whatever 
mutations may take place among the parties which 
may now or hereafter contend for political su- 
premacy 

Humboldt speaks of fourteen languages of New 
Spain as having grammars and vocabularies tolera- 
bly complete. We will endeavor, by means of the 
Maya grammar and vocabulary in our possession, to 
give such a slight sketch of its structure, as we 
have been enabled to glean from its pages. The first 
Maya grammar was composed by Father Louis de 
Villalpando, the first Catholic priest that set foot 
upon the peninsula of Yucatan, at Campeachy. This 
grammar was never pubhshed, and was much im- 
proved by Father Landa, the first provincial minister, 
and the second bishop of Yucatan. His treatise, 
with the additions of the bishop, remained in manu- 
script, but was the basis of the grammars of Fathers 
Juan Coronel and Gabriel de San Bonaventura, which 
in their turn were largely used by the author of the 
work in our possession. It is a remarkable fact, tend- 
ing to show the decline of literary taste among even 
the priesthood of Yucatan, that we were unable, after 
the most active research, to find any of the works 



THE MAYA LANGUAGE. 241 

above mentioned, and we have reason to believe that 
few if any copies now exist. The grammar in om* 
possession was written by Father Pedro Bekran, a 
Franciscan, and published at the city of Mexico, in 
1746, see p. 69. The author, in his preface, charac- 
terizes the Maya, as " graceful in diction, elegant in 
its periods, and concise in style ; often, in a few words 
of few syllables, expressing the meaning of many 
sentences. If the learner can overcome the obstacle 
presented by the difficulty of pronouncing some of 
the consonants, which are intensely guttural, he will 
find the language of easy acquisition." After some 
remarks upon the mode in which he proposes the 
trial of his subject, he concludes with the following 
remarks, which we have condensed here, to show 
that religious zeal was the moving cause which pro- 
duced all the grammars and vocabularies of the In- 
dian languages : " I will not rest my appeal in behalf 
of the Maya upon considerations of mere personal 
interest, or of the pleasure which must be the result 
of being able to communicate ideas in a foreign 
tongue ; I would elevate my thoughts above such 
comparatively base and vulgar views ; since I dedi- 
cate my work as an instrument for the service of the 
Divine Majesty, knowing, from my personal experi- 
ence, that the brethren of the church will obtain 
abundant fruit among the poor Indians, by instruct- 
ing them from the pulpit and the confessional, and 
likewise holding converse with them, in their native 
tongue : since by this means we shall most success- 
fully thwart the Devil, who will be cast down if we 

16 



242 THE MAYA ALPHABET. 

succeed, and who often interposes ridiculous difficul- 
ties in our path, which we can easily surmount ; the 
Accursed One well knowing, that in turning aside, 
and not acquiring this language, we deeply offend 
God, in that we cause the ruin of many souls. There- 
fore, heloved reader, apply yourself carefully to this 
treatise, to the end that you may please God, by open- 
ing the ears of this poor people, and feeding them 
with spiritual bread." 

The Maya alphabet consists of only twenty-two 
letters, of which the following, viz., 

0, ch, k, pp, thj tz, 

are peculiar to the language, and are very difficult of 
pronunciation. Mechanical rules, representing their 
sounds, are given in the grammar, but it is almost im- 
possible to acquire them without the assistance of a 
native. It is deficient in the following letters : — 

d, f, g, j, q, r, s. 

The remaining letters are sounded as in Spanish. 

The parts of speech are the same as in English. 
The noun is indeclinable, that is, the cases are formed 
solely by means of prepositions ; the accusative, like 
the objective in English, requiring no preposition 
when governed by an active verb. The genders are 
natural, as in English, and are designated by the par- 
ticle Ah for the masculine, and Ix for the feminine, 
neuter nouns having no prefix; thus — 

Ah cambezah, . . . master. 
Ix cambezah, . . . mistress. 

These monosyllables, however, are generally written 
simply H and X. They are often used in a pro- 



GRAMMAR OF THE MAYA TONGUE. 243 

nominal sense when mention is made of any peculi- 
arity or attribute of a living person; thus, nohoch 
being an adjective, signifying great, and pol a noun, 
meaning head, we should say — 

H nohoch pol, . . . He with the large head. 
X nohoch pol, . . . She with the large head. 

The genders of beasts and birds are still further 
designated by the prefix r^:^Z>^7 for the male, lamdi chupul 
for the female. 

The numbers are expressed by affixing to the sub- 
stantive the particle oh, to signify the third person 
plural, and the personal pronouns to express the first 
and second persons. The adjective is, like the sub- 
stantive, indeclinable ; admitting only, as in English, 
of the variation of degrees of comparison. These 
are formed by doubling the last syllable, and prefixing 
a pronoun for the comparative ; as — 

tibil, good. u tibilil, his, her, or its better. 

noh, great. u nohol, " " " greater. 

kaz, ugly. u kazal, " " " more ugly. 

lob, bad. u lobol, " " " worse. 

The prefix of u is changed to y, and sounded with 
the adjective, when it begins with a vowel. The final 
syllable of all comparatives has been gradually cor- 
rupted into il or el, in the spoken language. 

The relation of comparison between two persons 
or things is expressed by several words analogous to 
than, in English ; but this part of the subject belongs 
more properly to the syntax. 

The superlative degree is formed by simply prefix- 
ing to the adjective the word hach, very ; as — 

lob, bad. hach lob, very bad, or worst. 

ez, enchanted. hach ez, most enchanted. 



244 GRAMMAR OF THE MAYA TONGUE. 

The pronouns are very difficult to classify. The 
author, however, arranges them in five divisions, of 
which two are demonstrative, two mixed, or partaking 
of the possessive nature, and one reciprocal or re- 
flective. 

The first, which is prefixed solely to active or 
transitive verbs, or used as a relative, is declined as 
follows : — 

Ten, I ; Toon, We ; 

Tech, Thou; Teex, Ye; 

Lay, He. Looh, They. 

The second is suffixed to all tenses of neuter or 
substantive verbs, except the present and imperfect. 
It also serves as an objective when following an ac- 
tive verb, and, joined with a past participle, forms a 
neuter verb. It is thus declined : — 

En, I ; On, We ; 

Ech, Thou; Ex, Ye; 

Laylo, He. Ob, They. 

The two demonstrative and possessive pronouns 
are as follows : — 

In, I, or mine ; Ca, We, or ours ; 

A, Thou, " thine ; A ex. Ye, " yours ; 

U, He, " his. V oh. They, « theirs. 

Z7, I, or mine ; Ca, We, or ours ; 

An, Thou, " thine ; A uex. Ye, " yours ; 

F, He, " his. Yob, They " theirs. 

The numerous and delicate distinctions between 
these last, as shown by the author in many exam- 
ples, would be fatiguing to the reader were they set 
forth at length. It is enough to remark here, that 
the first is used in the conjugation of certain tenses 



GRAMMAR OF THE MAYA TONGUE. 



245 



of the verbs, and the second in certain others ; and 
that, as a possessive, the first is used before nouns 
beginning with a consonant, and the second before 
those commencing with a vowel. 

The reciprocal or reflective pronoun is declined 
as follows : — 

Inha, Myself ; Caba, Ourselves ; 

A ba, Thyself; A ba ex, Yourselves ; 

U ba, Himself. U ba ob, Themselves. 

This is used precisely as in English : thus, cimzah, 
to kill ; cvnzahha, to kill one's self. 

The verbs are divided into four conjugations ; of 
which the first comprehends all absolute or neuter 
verbs. The verbs of the other conjugations are all 
active or transitive, but are rendered passive by being 
conjugated after the first conjugation ; whence all 
passive verbs may be said Ukewise to be embraced 
under this form. All verbs of this conjugation, with 
a few exceptions, terminate, in the infinitive, in the 
letter /, and are of more than one syllable. The per- 
fect tense ends always in i, and the future in c. We 
give a few examples, to show the symmetry of the 
arrangement of the Spanish grammarian. 

Etppizanhal, etppizanhi, etppitzanhac, to resemble ; 



Elel, 


eli. 


dec. 


to bum ; 


Hatzpahal, 


hatzpahi, 


hatzpahac, 


to separate ; 


Mankinhal, 


mankinhi, 


mankinhac, 


to persevere ; 


TJenel, 


ueni, 


uenec, 


to sleep ; 


Xanhal, 


xanhi, 


xanac, 


to delay 



The second conjugation, which is the first of the 
active verbs, is indicated by the termination, ah. 
The perfect likewise ends in ah, being distinguished 



246 GRAMMAR OF THE MAYA TONGUE. 

from the present by a different pronoun, and the iu- 
ture in z. A few examples follow : — 

Cambezah. cambezah, cambez, to teach ; 

Yukkahzah, " yukkahez, to examine ; 

Kochbezah, " kochbez, to blame ; 

Xupzah, " ocupez, to destroy ; 

Zipzah, " zipez, to provoke. 

The verbs of the third conjugation are all mono- 
syllabic, and form the preterite by the addition oi ah, 
and the future in e or ab indiscriminately ; as, for ex- 
ample : — 



Kam, 


kamah, 


kame or kamab, 


to receive ; 


Mac, 


macah. 


mace or macab, 


to shut ; 


Ux, 


uxah, 


uxe or uxab. 


to gather ; 


Xoc, 


xocah, 


xoce or xocab, 


to respect. 



The verbs of the fourth conjugation differ from 
those of the third, in being polysyllabic. They form 
the preterite by adding tah, and the future by adding 
te to the body of the verb. If the infinitive end in 
tah, the preterite remains the same. Some examples 
follow : — 

Kabatah, kdbataJi, kabate, to number ; 

Kuul, kuultah, kuulte, to worship ; 

Lolobthan, lolobthantah, lolobtkante, to curse ; 

Nenol, nenoltah, nenolte, to contemplate , 

Tzolthan, tzolthantah, tzolthante, to interpret ; 

Zinche, zinchetah, zinchete, to crucify. 

The irregular verbs, of vi^hich there are about as many 
as in our own language, are to be learned only from 
practice. The auxiliary verbs likewise require much 
attention, to enable the student to conjugate the re- 
gular verbs. They are used in the different tenses 



GRAMMAR OF THE MAYA TONGUE. 247 

and modes precisely as the auxiliaries in the modern 
European languages, except that they sometimes fol- 
low the participles in placd of preceding them. We 
give the reader a specimen of the mode of conjugat- 
ing a verb of the second conjugation in the present and 
imperfect tenses, om* limits not allowing us to give all 
its modifications. 

Cambczak, camhezah, cambez, To teach. 

PRESENT INDICATIVE. 

Ten camhezic, I teach ; 

Tech camhezic, Thou teachest ; 

Lay camhezic, He teaches. 

Toon camhezic, We teach ; 

Teex camhezic. Ye teach ; 

Looh camhezic, They teach. 

IMPERFECT INDICATIVE. 

Ten camhezic cuchi, I was teaching ; 

Tech camhezic cuchi, Thou wast teaching ; 

Lay camhezic cuchi, He was teaching. 

Toon camhezic cuchi, We were teaching ; 

Teex camhezic cuchi, Ye were teaching ; 

Looh camhezic cuchi. They were tcc^ching. 

Were we to give the remaining portions of this 
verb, as conjugated by Father Beltran, the readei 
would be filled with admiration at the clearness and 
simplicity of his arrangement, and perceive how 
much his labors have faciUtated the acquisition of 
this language. 

The great obstacle, however, to the perfect knowl- 
edge of the Maya, and which can only be removed 
by continual converse with the natives themselves, is 
the frequent use of elisions and syncopes. The au- 
thor has devoted several pages to this part of his 



248 INUTILITY OF GRAMMATICAL RULES. 

subject, and has laid down many rules to guide the 
learner ; but finally he is obliged to confess that no 
written directions can be given to embrace every 
case. The Maya tongue, in this respect, resembles 
many other Indian languages, in which words are 
elided, syncopated, and consohdated together, until 
the grammatical construction can only be conjectured 
by the philologist, and the radices become jumbled up 
and difficult to distinguish. The utmost that the 
grammarian can accomplish, is to separate the differ- 
ent parts of speech, and to classify them scientifically. 
A spoken language is always more or less elided in 
conversation, however distinctly the words may be 
written in books ; but the written languages of South 
America present consolidated masses of words truly 
formidable to behold, and which tend utterly to dis- 
courage the most patient philologist. Humboldt men- 
tions the woixi NoTLAZOMAHuizTESPixcALATziN, sig- 
nifying "venerable priest, whom I cherish as my 
father," as used by the Mexicans when speaking to 
the curates; and the vocabularies of Indian lan- 
guages, both of North and South America, exhibit 
words of even greater longitude. It is evident that 
so long as the words of a language are, a^ it were, 
fused together, almost according to the fancy of the 
speaker, grammatical rules will be of little practical 
use to guide the scholar, and that he must acquire 
the language mostly by the ear. This perhaps ac- 
counts for the disappearance of all grammars and 
vocabularies of the Maya tongue from the peninsula 
of Yucatan, the priests finding it much easier to learn 



ORIGIN OF THE MAYA LANGUAGE. 249 

the language directly from the Indian, than to acquire 
it from books. I offer this, however, as a suggestion, 
rather than as an explanation. 

The brief sketch we have given of some of the fea- 
tures of the Maya tongue, naturally leads to specula- 
tions concerning its origin, and that of the nation by 
which it is spoken. 

There appears to be but little resemblance between 
the Maya, and the Mexican or Aztec, although they 
are both intensely guttural, and have a great simi- 
larity when viewed superficially by a cursory obser- 
ver. The Maya bears evident marks of very great 
antiquity, and may have been the language of Mexico 
before the great invasions of the Toltecs and Aztecs. 
There are some who suppose that the present inhabi- 
tants of Yucatan are but the scattered remnants of a 
great nation, which once ruled a large portion of the 
continent, and had its central seat of power in the 
peninsula ; and that it was gradually forced to yield 
to the assaults of more warlike nations, who invaded 
it from the North, and retired within the boundaries 
of the peninsula, where it decayed by degrees, until 
all vestige of political power was lost, long before the 
arrival of the Spaniards. Its temples and pyramids, 
and its spoken tongue, are the only memorials from 
which we can form any idea respecting its ori- 
gin. This question necessarily involves a solution 
of the great problem of the origin of the American 
race in general. 

The opinions of writers upon this subject are di- 
verse, and are supported on each side with a great 



250 HYPOTHETICAL SPECULATIONS. 

variety of interesting facts and inferences. It has long 
been a favorite idea with most who have treated of 
this topic, that America originally derived its popula- 
tion from Europe or Asia, or, to speak in the usuaJ 
manner, that the Neio World was peopled from the 
Old. This hypothesis seems to have been assumed 
in the first instance as a premise ; at least, most ar- 
guments upon this head seem to indicate that it has 
served as a sort of basis to the train of deductions ; 
and the most ingenious suppositions and skilfully 
arranged facts have been adduced to support a fore- 
gone conclusion. Whether the American continent 
was peopled at a very remote or a comparatively re- 
cent date, is not of so much moment, although there 
is a great diversity of opinion also in this respect. 
Mr. Gallatin, in his " Prefatory Letter," above men- 
tioned, is of opinion that " this continent received its 
first inhabitants at a very remote epoch, probably not 
much posterior to the dispersion of mankind ;" thus 
evidently referring to and supporting the theory of 
immigration, and of the derivation of all diversities of 
the human race from one type; while Mr. Bradford, 
in the final chapter of his elaborate work, before 
cited, agrees with Mr. Gallatin in the hypothesis that 
" the Red Race penetrated at a very ancient period 
into America," but differs with him in the conclusion 
that it "appears to be a primitive branch of the human 
family^ Baron Von Humboldt, however, in his 
great work upon New Spain, terms the Indians " in- 
digenous," and, although he quotes the opinions of 
many authors in favor of their Asiatic origin, he at 



AMERICAN INDIANS INDIGENOUS. 251 

the same time combats their views with sundry strik- 
ing facts, and finally modestly dismisses the subject 
with tliQ remark, that " the general question of the first 
origin of the inhabitants of a continent is beyond the 
limits prescribed to history, and is not, perhaps, even 
a philosophical question." 

We will candidly confess that we could never un- 
derstand why philosophers have been so predisposed 
to advocate the theory which peoples America from , 
the Eastern hemisphere. We think the supposi- 
tion that the Red Man is a primitive type of a fa- 
mily of the human race, originally planted in the 
Western continent, presents the most natural solution 
of the problem ; and that the researches of physiolo- 
gists, antiquaries, philologists, and philosophers in 
general, tend irresistibly to this conclusion. The 
hypothesis of immigration, however inviting it appear 
at first to the superficial observer, and however much 
he may be struck with certain fancied analogies be- 
tween the architectural or astronomical peculiarities 
of the American and the Asiatic, is, when followed 
out, embarrassed with great difficulties, and leads to a 
course of interminable and unsatisfying speculations. 



APPENDIX 



APPENDIX. 



A BRIEF MAYA VOCABULARY. 



Acquaintance, kaholal. 
Adder, can, or cam. 

, (harmless,) tzelcam. 

Afternoon, zezikin. 
Age (an,) khinkatun. 
A-gony, takyekik, xulikal. 
Air, I'k-ikal. 
Alligator, ain, chinan. 
Alms, oayatzil, zitl, matan. 
Anger, campectzil. 
Animal, balachi. 
Ant, zinic, zacal. 
Apartment, uay, kakal. 
Appetite, ulolal. 
Arm and hand, kab. 
Ascend, nacal. 
Ashes, oitaan. 

Asthma, coc, coczen, cencoc. 
Avarice, coczioil. 
Ax, baat. 

Badger, ah, chab. 

Ball, (dance,) okot. 

Banner, lacan. 

Basket, xac. 

Bat, zoo. 

Bath, katchu. 

Beam, chalatche. 

Beans, bouloul. 

Beautiful man, chichcelem. 



Bee, yikilkab. 

Bed, uay, chac, chacche. 

Bed canopy, yuub. 

Bed-bug, kulimpic. 

Bell, (small,) kilzimoc. 

Bench, xacamache. 

Bird, chich. 

Birth, ziian. 

To Bleed, tock. 

Bleeding, tockil. 

Blood, kik, olam. 

Blemish, yikub. 

Blind, ekmai. 

Blister, ppool, choolax. 

Body, uinclil, cucut. 

Bow, pump. 

Boy, pal. 

Brain, oomel. 

Bread, uah. 

To Break, noppah. 

Breast, tzem. 

Broom, mizib. 

Bug, (flying,) pic. 

Butter, tratz. 

Buttock, ppucit. 

Calabash, chu. 
Caldron, mazcabcun. 
Calf of the- leg, ppuloc. 
Cancer, ounuz, ounuztacon. 



256 



A BRIEF MAYA VOCABULARY. 



Candle, yibac. 

Candle, (wax,) yibaccib. 

Cane, ochux. 

Cat, mix, miztun. 

Caterpillar, nok, nokol. 

Chair, yec. 

Chamber, unoyna. 

Chastisement, tzeac. 

Cheek, ppuc. 

Chicken, each 

Chin, meex. 

Cholic, kuxnakil, yanakil. 

Circle, peet, petil. 

Claws, (beast's,) mol. 

Cloak, (sort of,) zuyem. 

Cloudy, nocoycan. 

Coal, thabaantchuc, tchuc, ci- 

menchuc. 
Cochineal, mukai'. 
Cold weather, ceec. 
Cold in the head, zizhalil. 
Cold, (any thing,) ziz. 
Consumption, tzemztemil, ni- 

choil. 
Contagion, bambanicimil. 
Cook, or cookery, coben. 
Com, yxim. 
Corner, timk. 
Cord, (line,) kaan. 
Costiveness, natzhalil, zunonalil. 
Courage, ikal, oabail. 
Court, tancabal. 
Covetousness, natzil. 
Crab, ixbau. 
Cramp, lotheek, zizoc. 
Cricket, maaz. 
Cripple, mech, moch. 



Crown, nac. 
Cruelty, yxmaonoilil. 

Dauphin, ahzibic. 

Day, kin. 

Day-break, yaja-cab. 

Day after to-morrow, cabej. 

Dead, cimen. 

Deaf, cooc. 

Deafness, coocil. 

Death, cimil, cimen. 

Deceit, tabzah. 

Deer, ceb. 

To Deflower, zat zubuyil. 

Descend, emel. 

Desire, oibolal. 

Diamond, kabliztoc. 

To Die, cimil. 

Dinner, (to eat,) banal. 

Discord, kexolal. 

Dog, pek. 

Door, hoi. 

Doubt, picolal. 

Drake, (wild,) catzhaa. 

Drawers, ex, humpel, sacech. 

Drink, ukil. 

Drop, chibaloc, can-nohol. 

Dropsy, zot, chupil. 

Dumb, tot. 

Dumbness, totil. 

Eagle, coot. 

Ear, leexicen. 

Early, raatukin. 

East, lakin. 

Earthen dish, xamah. 

Earthquake, cicilan, cicilancal. 



A BRIEF MAYA VOCABULARY. 



257 



Eat, (bread,) hantachouaj. 
Egg, hue, eel. 
Elbow, cue. 
Embroider, chuy. 



To Fish, tchoukai. 
Flame of fire, leoka. 
Flatulency, baalanik. 
Flea, chic. 



Enchanter, ahez, ahcimyha, ah- Flint, tock. 



cunal. 
Ennui, tukolal. 
Enter, ocol. 
Entrails, hobnel, tzuc. 
Eye-lash, matzab. 
Eye-lid, pachich. 
Eyes, ouich, or ych. 

Fair, kinic. 

To Fall, nenel. 

Family, balnail, cuchteil. 

Fan, ual, picit. 

Far, naach. 

Fast, tumut, hana. 

Fat, yek, yekil. 

Father, hachyum. 

Fear, zablemotal. 

Feather, kukum. 

Feebleness, tzemil. 

Female, chupal. 

Fever, chacauil, chocuil. 

Fever, (intermittent,) yaxcal. 

Fiction, iktili, iktilican. 

Fields, hotoch. 

Fight, tock. 

Fingers, jalkab. 

Finger, (middle,) chumuckab. 

■ , (ring,) ahoi'pit. 



Fire, kak, 
Firewood, zi. 
Fish, (lake,) hulum. 

, (peculiar to America,) tzan. Hale, bat. 

17 



Flux, xaankik. 
Foot and leg, oc. 
Fore-finger, tuchub. 
Foreigner, nachiluinic, oul. 
Forest, kax. 
Forehead, chi-lec. 
Forgetfulness, tumbobal. 
Fornication, pakkeban. 
Foundation, oec, oecil. 
Fraud, tabzah. 
Fresh, (a thing,) ziz. 
Froth, (scum,) om. 

Gall, ka, kha, kah. 

Giant, ahuanchac. 

Girl, tchoupal. 

Glow-worm, cocai". 

Goat, chupul, yuc, 

God, Ku. 

Godfather, yinnilan, yeyum. 

Godmother, naylan, naylah. 

Gold, kantakin. 

Gossip, etyum, yumlah. 

Gravel, kaluix, kataczah, kazab. 

Great, nohoch, mapal, nuc. 

Grief, okomolal. 

Groin, heh, mah. 

Gum, chunco. 

Gutter, ocoyhaa, oc. 

, (sewer,) beelhaa, yachhaa. 



258 



A BRIEF MAYA VOCABULARY. 



Half, tancoh. 

Hammock, yaabkaan. 

Hamper, baas. 

Hands, kab. 

Hand-worm, pech. 

Hare, (two species,) halu, tzub. 

Hat, pooc. 

Hatred, uyah. 

Head, hoot, pol. 

Headache, kuxpolil, yapolil. 

Hedge-hog, kixpachok. 

Heart, puzcical. 

To Heat, kilcab. 

Heaven, caan. 

Heel, toucuy, chol. 

Hen, chcach. 

Hermaphrodite, hazakam, cobol, 

Hem, bac-haa-zacboc. 

Hiccough, toucub. 

Hip, bobox. 

Honey, cab. 

Honey bear, zambhol. 

Hope, alabolal. 

Horse, tzot, tzotzel. 

Host, ula. 

Hot, chocouhaa. 

House, na, otoch. 

, (stone,) nocac. 

Humanity, uinicil. 
Hump-backed, ppuz, buz. 
Hunger, uiih. 
To Hunt, tzonai. 
Husband, ichambil. 

Image, vimba. 
Imagination, oiiolal. 
Incest, onelbilkebaa 



Inconstancy, hebolal. 

Industry, ytzatil. 
Infant, hcho, schuchul. 
Infirmity, kohanil, chapail. 
Intention, olil. 
Intestine, zal. 
Itch, uech. 

Jar, (large,) calamacat. 
Jaws, camach. 
Jewel, oipit, kab. 
Jug, buleb, zuleb. 

Kidneys, yz. 
To Kill, cimzah. 
To Kiss, machii, ouo. 
ICnee, pix. 

Ladder-step, oac, oacal. 

Languor, kohanil, chapail. 

Lead, tau. 

League, luub. 

To Learn, cambal. 

Learning, miatzil. 

Left, oic. 

Level ground, poctche. 

Lie, tuz. 

Light, zaz, zazil, zalilil. 

Lightning, lemba, lembail, 

License, zipitolal. 

Lime, taan. 

Linen, nok. 

, (dirty,) cicinok. 

, (clean,) yamaxihutnok. 

Lion, (wild,) kancoh. 

, (white,) oacek. [bo, ai. 

, and Leopard, coh, chac- 



-1- 



A BRIEF MAYA VOCABULARY. 



259 



Liver, tamnel. 

Living, ahcuxan. 

Lizard, ixmemech, xzeluoh. 

, (kind of,) huh. 

Louse, uc. 
Love, yecunah. 

Madam, colel. 

Madness, cooil. 

Man, uinic. 

Man, (handsome,) chichcelem. 

Market, kinic. 

Marrow, oubac. 

Mask, kohob. 

Mat, (rush,) poop. 

Mature, takin. 

Measles, uzankak. 

Meat, baak. 

Melancholy, ppoolcmolal, tzemo- 

lal. 
Memory, kehlai. 
Menses, ilmah-u. 
Midnight, tantchoumoukacab. 
Midvrife, etnaa, nalha. 
Milk, ucabim. 
Mirror, nen. 
Mist, yeeb. 
Mole, ba. 
Monkp.y, maax. 
Month, ilaxnoc. 
Moon, umpekin. 
Moth, xthuyul. 
Mother, hachnela. 
Mould, oalab. 
Mouth, cha, xi. 
Murram:, campectzil. 



Nail, (claw,) laxquetlac 
Near, nasaan. 
Necklace, kanthixal. 
Negligence, nayolal. 
Negro, ekbok. 
Nerve, xich. 
Night, acab, acbil. 
Nipple, polim. 
No, ma. 

Nobody, mamac. 
Noise, hum. 
Noon, tantchoumoukin. 
North, nohol. 
Nose, nii. 
Nostrils, holnil. 
Nothing, mabal. 

Obstinacy, nolmail. 
Oil, tzatza, kaabU. 
Onjament, cen, cenanil tap. 
Outcry, auac. 
Owl, icim. 

Pain, ya, yoil, kiuElm. 

, (in the side,) auat-md. 

, (mouth, teeth,) chacnik. 

, (breast,) tuzik. 

Palace, ahauna, papilote. 
Palate, mabcaan. 
Palm of the hand, tancab. 
Palm-tree, haaz. 
Pantaloons, humpel ech. 
Partridge, num. 
Paste, takab, takeb. 
Pavement, taztunichil. 
Peg, ecbe. 
Pearl, yaxiltun. 



260 



A BRIEF MAYA VOCABULARY. 



Pen, cheb. 

Period of time, katum, kin-katun. 

Petticoat, paytem, bon. 

Physician, ahouyah. 

Pigeon, zacpacal. 

Piles, kabak, ixmumuz. 

Pillow, kumchuy. 

Pitcher, ppul. 

Plate, chob. 

Poet, hiktan. 

Poison, uay, yaah, tenoac. 

Porridge-pot, cucul, yaan. 

Pride, nonohbail. 

To Produce, alan, alan cal. 

Promise, zebchiil. 

Provisions, nech. 

Pulse, tipontip. 

Pupil, (of the eye,) nenel, ich. 

To Purge, kalab, halaboac. 

Putrefaction, tuil, hio. 

Quinsy, zippcal, yacalil. 

Rabbit, thul, muy. 
Rain, chuluhhaa. 
Rainbow, cheel. 
Remedy, oaoacil. 
To Retake, mol. 
Rib, chalat. 
Right, noh. 
Ring, oipit, kab. 
Rivulet, haltun. 
Rust, yx, akzah. 

Saliva, tub, baba, cilbail. 

Salt, taab. 

Salutation, peul, peultah. 



Scorpion, zinan. 

Scull, tzec, tzekil. 

Sea, kanaps. 

Serpent, kanal, can, ixkukilcan. 

To Sew, embroider, chuy. 

Shade, booy. 

Shark, ahcanxok. 

Shin-bone, tul, tzelec 

Shirt, xicul. 

To Shirt, buuc. 

Shoes, chanal. 

Shoulder, celembal, pach. 

Side, tzel. 

To Sing, kaay. 

Sir, yum. 

Skeleton, tzitzak. 

Skin, (human,) oth, othel. 

, (animal,) keuel. 

To sleep, uenel. 

Sleep, uenel. 

Sleeve, teppliz, tzotiz. 

Small-pox, kake. 

Snails, mexenhubo. 

Soil, bitun. 

Sorcerer, ahez, ahcunyha, ahcu- 

nal 
Sore, pomaetel. 
Sore eyes, ya ichil. 
Soul, pixan. 
South, chanian. 
Sparrow-hawk, hii. 
Spider, leum. 
Spine, chacpich. 

, (animal,) zibnel. 

Spot, yihul. 
Squirrel, cue, cuceb. 
Star, eck. 



A BRIEF MAYA VOCABULARY. 



261 



Steps, eb. 

, (stone,) ebtun. 

, (wood,) ebche. 

Stomach, ychpuzical. 

Stone, tunieh. 

Stool, (cricket,) yculxec. 

Stove, mohob, mob. 

Stranger, omon. 

Stud, moo. 

To Suck, ouuc. 

Sugar, momcab, mom. 

Sun, khin. 

Swallow, cuzan. 

To Sweep, miz. 

Sweat, keluc. 

Sweet, chahuc, chaku. 

Swim, tahal, tahalhaa. 

To' Swoon, nuniltameaz, haoik. 

Swooning, zalalol, zaccimil, tho- 

yol. 
Sword, (sabre,) haoab. 

Table, mayac. 

, (of stone,) mayac tim. 

To Take, chaa. 
Tarantula, am. 
Tear, kabich, yatilicb. 
Teeth, (grinders,) cham. 
Tempest, chacakal. 
Temple, machunhach. 
Thigh, chacbacal. 
Thirst, ukah, ukhil. 
Thorn, hiix. 
Throat, cal. 
Throne, nac oam. 
Thumb, naakab. 
Thunder, humchac, peechac. 



Thunderbolt, uhaochac. 
Thus, or so, bei. 
Tiger, balam, chacekel. 
Timidity, oyomolal. 
Toad, much. 
Tobacco, kutz. 
To-day, bejelae, or bechlae. 
To-morrow, saamal. 
Tooth, CO. 

, (canine,) oay. 

Tortilla, (corn bread,) pakach, pe- 

cuah. 
Tortoise, ack. 
To Touch, tal. 
Treason, kubilah. 
Treasure, tzoy. 

Tree, (trunk of,) out-choun-tchai. 
Tripe, choch. 

• Trough, poxche, pokoatche. 
Turtle, ae. 

Understanding, naat. 

Vanity, pezbail. 
Vein, ychac. 
Vengeance, tohbail. 
Venom, soliman, chihimtie. 
Vial, ppool, choolax. 
Village, cacab. 
Vinegar, zuoci, pahcii. 
Viper, ahaucan. 
Virgin, zuhuy.. . 
Voice, than. 
Vow, ppaachii. 
Vulture, (species of,) ouxcil. 

To Wake, ximbal. 



262 



NUMBERS TO ONE HUNDRED. 



To Walk, ximbalni. 
Wall, pak, 

, (enclosure,) tulum, paa. 

Wallet, mucuc, cWm. 
War, katun, bateil, ppizba. 
Wart, ax, chuc. 
Washerwoman, humpel, schpo. 

xpo. 
Washing hands, pocolkab. 
Water, haa. 
Wax, cib. 
Weasel, zabin. 
To Weep, okol. 
Well, cheen. 
West, childn. 
Wheel, cocoo. 
To Whistle, chouchoub. 
Wild-boar, ac. 



Wild-cat, akxux, zacoboly. 

Wild-hog, citan. 

Wild-turkey, ahau, cutz. 

Will, olha. 

Wind, (blustering,) ciz. 

Wing, xik. 

Wolf, cabcoh 

Woman, or wife, attambil. 

Wood-louse, (Indian,) xkuluck 

To Work, meyach. 

World, jocokab. 

Wound, cimil, centanil. 

Wrist, kalcab. 

Year, oumpe-hab. 
Yes, matan la. 
Yesterday, joolge, or hoolje 
Youth, paal, baac. 



NUMBERS TO ONE HUNDRED 



1, hun. 

2, ca 

3, ox 

4, can. 

5, ho. 

6, uac. 

7, uuc. 

8, uaxac. 

9, bolon." 

10, lahun. 

11, buluc. 

12, lahca. 

13, oxahun. 

14, canlahun. 

15, holhun. 



16, uaclahun. 

17, uuclahun. 

18, uaxaclahun. 

19, bolonlahun. 

20, hunkal. 

21, huntukal. 

22, catukal. 

23, oxtukal. 

24, cantukal. 

25, hotukal. 

26, uactukal. 

27, uuctukal. 

28, uaxactukal. 

29, bolontukai. 

30, lahucakal. 



NUMBERS TO ONE HUNDRED. 



263 



, buluctukal. 


66, 


uactucankal. 


, cahcatukal. 


67, 


uuctucankal. 


, oxlahutukal. 


68, 


uaxactucankal. 


, canlahutukal. 


69, 


bolontucankal. 


, holucukal. 


70, 


labucankal. 


, uaclahutukal. 


71, 


buluctucankal. 


, uuclahutukal. 


72, 


lahcatucankal. 


, uaxaclahutukal. 


73, 


oxlahutucankal. 


, bolonlahutukal. 


74, 


canlahutuc ankal . 


, cakal. 


75, 


holhucankal. 


, huntuyoxkal. 


76, 


uaclahutucankal. 


, catuyoxkal. 


77, 


uuclahutucankal. 


, oxtuyoxkal. 


78, 


uaxaclahutucankal 


, cantuyoxkal. 


79, 


bolonlahutucankal. 


, hotuyoxkal. 


80, 


c ankal. 


, uactuyoxkal. 


81, 


hutuyokal. 


, uuctuyoxkal. 


82, 


catuyokal. 


, uaxactuyoxkal. 


83, 


oxtuyokal. 


, bolontuyoxkal. 


84, 


cantuyokal. 


, lahuyoxkal. 


85, 


.hotiiyokal. 


, buluctuyoxkal. 


86, 


uactuyokal. 


, lahcatuyoxkal. 


87, 


uuctuyokal. 


, oxlahutuyoxkal. 


88, 


uaxactuyokal. 


, canlabutuyoxkal. 


89, 


bolontuyokal 


, holhiiyoxkal. 


90, 


lahuyokal. 


, uaclahutuyoxkal. 


91, 


buluctuyokal 


, uuclahutuyoxkal. 


92, 


lahcatuyokal. 


, uaxaclahutuyoxkal. 


93, 


oxlahutuyokal. 


, bolonlahutuyoxkal. 


94, 


canlahutuyokal 


, oxkal. 


95, 


holhuyokal. 


, buntucankal. 


96, 


uaclahutuyokai. 


, catucankal. 


97, 


uuclahutiiyokal. 


, oxtucankal. 


98, 


uaxaclahutuyokal. 


, cantucankal. 


99, 


bolonlahutuyokal. 


, hotucankal. 


100, 


hokal. 



TRADITION OF THE MEXICAN NATIVES RESPECT- 
ING THEIR MIGRATION FROM THE NORTH. 

In corroboration of Mr Atwater's opinion with respect to the 
gradual remove of the ancient people of the West toward Mexico, 
we subjoin what we have gathered from the Researches of Baron 
Humboldt on that point. See Helen Maria Williams' translation 
of Humboldt's Researches in America, vol. ii. p. 67 ; from which 
it appears the people inhabiting the vale of Mexico, at the time 
the Spaniards overran that country, were called Aztecs, or Azte- 
cas ; and were, as the Spanish history informs us, usurpers, 
having come from the north, from a country which they called 
Aztalan. 

This country of Aztalan, Baron Humboldt says, " we must look 
for at least north of the forty-second degree of latitude." He 
comes to this conclusion from an examination of the Mexican or 
Azteca manuscripts, which were made of a certain kind of leaves, 
and of skins prepared ; on which an account in painted hiero- 
glyphics, or pictures, was given of their migration from Aztalan to 
Mexico, and how long they halted at certain places ; which, in the 
aggregate, amounts to " four hundred and sixteen years." 

The following names of places appear on their account of their 
journeyings, at which places they made more or less delay, and 
built towns, forts, tumuli, &c. : — 

1st. A place of Humiliation and a place of Grottoes. It would 
seem at this place they were much afflicted and humbled, but in 
what manner is not related ; and also at this place, from the term 
grottoes, that it was a place of caverns and dens, probably where 
they at tirst hid and dwelt, till they built a town and cleared the 
ground. Here they built the places which they called Tocalco 
and Oztatan. 

2d journey. They stopped at a place of fruit-trees ; probably 
meaning, as it was further south, a place where nature was abund- 
ant in nuts, grapes, and wild fruit-trees. Here they built a mound 
or tumulus ; and, in their language, it is called a Teocali. 

3d journey ; when they stopped at a place of herbs, with broad 
leaves ; probably meaning a place where many succulent plants 



JOURNEYINGS. 265 

grew, denoting a good soil, which invited them to pitch their 
tents here. 

4th journey; when they came to a place of human bones ; 
where they, either during their stay, had battles with each other, 
or with some enemy ; or they may have found them already there, 
the relics of other nations before them ; for, according to Hum- 
boldt, this m_igration of the Aztecas took place A. D. 778 ; so that 
other nations certainly had preceded them, also from the north. 

5th journey ; they came to a place of eagles. 

6th journey ; to a place of precious stones and minerals. 

7th journey ; to a place of spinning, where they manufactured 
clothing of cotton, barks, or of something proper for clothing of 
some sort, and mats of rushes and feathers. 

8th journey ; they came to another place of eagles, called the 
Eagle Mountain : or, in their own language, Quauktli Tepee : 
Tepee, says Humboldt, in the Turkish language, is the word for 
mountain ; which two words are so near alike, tepee, and tepe, 
that it would seem almost an Arab word, or a word used by the 
Turks. 

9th journey ; when they came to a place of walls, and the seven 
grottoes ; which shows the place had been inhabited before, and 
these seven grottoes were either caves in the earth, or were made 
in the side of some mountain, by those who had preceded them. 

10th journey ; when they came to a place of thistles, sand, and 
vultures, 

11th journey; when they came to a place of Obsidian mirrors, 
which is much the same with that of ising-glass, scientifically called 
mica membranacea. This mineral substance is frequently found 
in the tumuli of the west, and is called by the Mexicans the shining 
god. The obsidian stone, however, needs polishing before it will 
answer as a mirror. 

12th journey ; came to a place of water, probably some lake 
or beautiful fountains, which invited their residence there, on the 
account not only of the water, but for fishing and game. 

13th journey ; they came to the place of the Divine Monkey, 
called, in their own language, Teozomoco. In the most ancient 
Hebrew, this animal is called K-oph, Kooph, and Kuphon : in the 



266 AZTEC A MIGRATION. 

Arabic, which is similar to the Hebrew, it is called K-ha-noos, 
Khanassa, and Chanass ; all of which words bear a strong resem- 
blance to the Mexican Te-oz-o-moco, especially to the Arabic 
Khanoos. Here, it would seem, they set up the worship of the 
monkey, or baboon, as the ancient Egyptians are known to have 
done. This animal is found in Mexico, according to Humboldt. 

14th journey ; when they came to a high mountain, probably 
with table lands on it, which they called Ckopaltepec, or mountain 
of locusts : " A place," says Baron Humboldt, " celebrated for the 
magnificent view from the top of this hill ;" which, it appears, is 
in the Mexican country, and probably not far from the vale of 
Mexico, where they finally and permanently rested. 

1.5th journey; when they came to the vale of Mexico ; they 
here met with the prodigy, or fulfilment of the prophecy, or ora- 
cle, predicted at their outset from the country of Aztalan, Huehue- 
tlapallan, and Amaquemacan ; which was (see Humboldt, vol. ii. 
p. 185), that the migrations of the Aztecs should not terminate till 
the chiefs of the nation should meet with an eagle, perched on a 
cactus-tree, or prickly pear ; at such a place they might found a 
city. This was, as their bull-hide books inform us, in the vale 
of Mexico. 

We have related this account of the Azteca migration from the 
country of Aztalan, Huehuetlapallan, and Amaquemacan, from the 
regions of north latitude forty-two degrees, merely to show that the 
country, provinces, or districts, so named in their books, must have 
been the country of Ohio, Mississippi, and Illinois, with the whole 
region thereabout ; for these are not far from the very latitude 
named by Humboldt as the region of Aztalan, &c. 

The western country is now distinguished by the general name 
of the " lake country ;" and why ? because it is a country of lakes ; 
and for the same reason it was called by the Mexicans Azteca, by 
the Indians, Aztalans, because in their language atl is water, from 
which Aztalan is doubtless a derivative, as well also as their own 
name as a nation or title, which was Astecas, or people of the lakes. 

This account, derived from the Mexicans since their reduction 
by the Spaniards, is gathered from the researches of learned travel- 
lers, who have, for the very purpose of learning the origin of the 



TRAITS OF MOSAIC HISTORY. 267 

people of this country, penetrated not only into the forest retreats 
in the woods of Mexico, but into the mysteries of their hard lan- 
guage, their theology, philosophy, and astronomy. This account 
of their migration, as related above, is corroborated by the tradition 
of the Wyandot Indians. 

We come to a knowledge of this tradition by the means of a Mr. 
William Walker, some time Indian agent for our government. 
A pamphlet, published in 1823, by Frederick Falley, of San- 
dusky, contains Mr. Walker's account, which is as follows : A 
great many hundred years ago, the ancient inhabitants of America, 
who were the authors of the great works of the West, were driven 
away from their country and possessions by barbarous and savage 
hordes of warriors, who came from the north and north-east, be- 
fore whose power and skill in war they were compelled to flee, 
and went to the south. 

After having been there many hundred years, a runner came 
back into the same country whence the ancient people had 
been driven, which we suppose is the very country of Aztalan, 
or the region of the Western States, bringing the intelligence that 
a dreadful beast had landed on their coast along the sea, which 
was spreading among them havoc and death, by means of fire and 
thunder ; and that it would no doubt travel all over the country, for 
the same purpose of destruction. This beast, whose voice was 
like thunder, and whose power to kill was like fire, we have no 
doubt represents the cannon and small arms of the Spaniards, 
when they first commenced the murder of the people of South 
America. — [Priest.] 



TRAITS OF THE MOSAIC HISTORY FOUND AMONG 
THE AZTECA NATIONS. 

The tradition commences with an account of the deluge, as 
they had preserved it in books made of the buffalo and deer skin, 
on which account there is more certainty than if it had been pre- 
served by mere oral tradition, handed down from father to son. 



268 REMARKABLE SIMILARITY. 

They begin by painting, or, as we would say, by telling us thai 
Noah, whom they call Tezpi, saved himself, with his wife, whom 
they call Xochiquetzal, on a raft or canoe. Is not this the ark ? 
The raft or canoe rested on or at the foot of a mountain, which 
they call Colhuacan. Is not this Ararat ? The men born after 
this deluge were born dumb. Is not this the confusion of language 
at Babel ? A dot^e from the top of a tree distributes languages to 
them in the form of an olive leaf. Is not this the dove of Noah, 
which returned with that leaf in her mouth, as related in Genesis ? 
They say, that on this raft, besides Tezpi and his wife, were seve- 
ral children, and animals, with grain, the preservation of which 
was of importance to mankind. Is not this in almost exact ac- 
cordance with what was saved in the ark with Noah, as stated in 
Genesis ? 

When the Great Spirit, Tezcatlipoca, ordered the waters to 
withdraw, Tezpi sent out from his raft a vulture, which never re- 
turned, on account of the great quantities of dead carcasses which 
it found to feed upon. Is not this the raven of Noah, which did 
not return when it was sent out the second time, for the very rea- 
son here assigned by the Mexicans 1 Tezpi sent other birds, one 
of which was the humming-bird ; this bird alone returned, hold- 
ing in its beak a branch covered with leaves. Is not this the 
dove ? Tezpi, seeing that fresh verdure now clothed the earth, 
quitted his raft near the mountain of Colhuacan. Is not this an 
allusion to Ararat of Asia ? They say the tongues which the 
dove gave to mankind, were infinitely varied ; which, when re- 
ceived, they immediately dispersed. But among them there were 
fifteen heads or chiefs of families, which were permitted to speak 
the same language, and these were the Taltecs, the Aculhucans, 
and Azteca nations, who embodied themselves together, which 
was very natural, and travelled, they knew not where, but at 
length arrived in the country of Aztalan, or the lake country in 
America. 

^ Among the vast multitude of painted representations found by 
Humboldt, on the books of the natives, made also frequently of 
prepared skins of animals, were delineated all the leading cir- 
cumstances and history of the deluge, of the fall of man, and of 



THE DELUGE. 269 

the seduction of the woman by the means of the serpent, the first 
murder as perpetrated by Cain, on the person of his brother Abel. 

Among the different nations, according to Humboldt, who in- 
habited Mexico, were found paintings which represented the de- 
luge, or the flood of Tezpi. The same person among the Chinese 
is called Fohi and Yu-ti, which is strikingly similar in sound to 
the Mexican Tezpi, in which they show how he saved himself 
and his wife, in a bark, or some say, in a canoe, others on a raft, 
which they call, in their language, a huahuate. 

Tezpi sent out other birds, one of which was the humming- 
bird ; this bird alone returned again to the boat, holding in its beak 
a branch, covered with leaves. Tezpi now knowing that the 
earth was dry, being clothed with fresh verdure, quitted his bark 
near the mountain Colhucan, or Ararat. A tradition of the same 
fact, the deluge, is also found among the Indians of the Northwest. 
I received (says a late traveller) the following account from a 
chief of one of the tribes, in his own words, in the English : — 
" An old man, live great while ago, he wery good man, he have 
three son. The Great Spirit tell him, go make raft — build wig- 
wam on top : for he make it rain wery much. When this done, 
Great Spirit say, put in two of all the creatures, then take sun, 
moon — all the stars, put them in — get in himself, with his Equa, 
(wife,) children, shut door, all dark outside. Then it rain much 
hard, many days. When they stay there long time — Great Spirit 
say, old man, go out. So he take diving animal, sa goy see if 
find the earth : so he went, come back, not find any thing. Then 
he wait few days — send out mushquash, see what he find. When 
he come back, brought some mud in he paw ; old man wery glad ; 
he tell mushquash, you wery good, long this world stand, be 
plenty mushquash, no man ever kill you all. Then few days 
more, he take wery prety bird, send him out, see what it find ; that 
bird no come back : so he send out one white bird, that come 
back, have grass in he mouth. So old man know water going 
down. The Great Spirit say, old man, let sun, moon, stars go 
out, old man too. He go out, raft on much big mountain, when 
he see prety bird, he send out first, eating dead things — he say, 
bird, you do no right, when me send, you no come back, you must 



270 TRAITS OF MOSAIC HISTORY. 

be black, you no prety bird any more — you always eat bad things 
So it was black." 

The purity of these traditions is evidence of two things : first, 
that the book of Genesis, as written by Moses, is not, as some 
have imagined, a cunningly devised fable, as these Indians cannot 
be accused of Christian nor of Jewish priestcraft, their religion 
being of another cast. And second, that the continents of America, 
Europe, Africa, and Asia, were anciently united, 'so that the 
earlier nations came directly over after the confusion of the an- 
cient language and dispersion — on which account its purity has 
been preserved more than among the more wandering tribes of the 
old continents, v 

As favoring this idea of their (the Mexicans) coming immedi- 
ately from the region of the tower of Babel, their tradition goes 
on to inform us, that the tongues distributed by this bird were in- 
finitely various, and dispersed over the earth ; but that it so hap- 
pened that fifteen heads of families were permitted to speak the 
same language. These travelled till they came to a country 
which they called Aztalan, supposed to be in the regions of the 
now United States, according to Humboldt. The word Aztalan 
signifies, in their language, water, or a country of much water. 
Now, no country on the earth better suits this appellation than 
the western comitry, on account of the vast niunber of lakes found 
there, and it is even, by us, called the lake country. 
>. It is evident that the Indians are not the first people who foimd 
their way to this country. Among these ancient nations are 
found many traditions corresponding to the accounts given by 
Moses respecting the creation, the fall of man by the means of a 
serpent, the murder of Abel by his brother, &c. ; all of which 
are denoted in their paintings, as found by the earlier travellers ' 
among them, since the discovery of America by Columbus, and 
carefully copied from their books of prepared hides, which may be 
called parchment, after the manner of the ancients of the earliest 
ages. We are pleased when we find such evidence, as it goes 
to the establishment of the truth of the historical parts of the Old 
Testament, evidence so far removed from the skeptic's charge 



TRAITS OF MOSAIC HISTORY. 271 

of priestcraft here among the unsophisticated nations of the woods 
of America. 

Clavigero, in his history of Mexico, says that among the Chiap- 
anese Indians was found an ancient manuscript in the language 
of that country, made by the Indians themselyes, in which it was 
said, according to their ancient tradition, that a certain person, 
named Votan, was present at that great building, which was made 
by order of his uncle, in order to mount up to heaven ; that then 
every people was given their language, and that Votan himself was 
charged by God to make the division of the lands of Anahuac — 
so Noah divided the earth among his sons. Votan may have been 
Noah, or a grandson of his. 

Of the ancient Indians of Cuba, several historians of America 
relate, that when they were interrogated by the Spaniards con- 
cerning their origin, they answered, they had heard from their 
ancestors, that God created the heavens and the earth, and all 
things ; that an old man, having foreseen the deluge with which 
God designed to chastise the sins of men, built a large canoe and 
embarked in it with his family, and many animals ; that when the 
inundation ceased, he sent out a raven, which, because it found 
food suited to its nature to feed on, never returned to the canoe ; 
that he then sent out a pigeon, which soon returned, bearing a 
branch of the Hoha tree, a certain fruit-tree of America, in its 
mouth ; that when the old man saw the earth dry, he disembarked, 
and having made himself wine of the wood grape, he became in- 
toxicated and fell asleep ; that then one of his sons made ridicule 
of his nakedness, and that another son piously covered him ; that, 
upon waking, he blessed the latter and cursed the former. Lastly, 
these islanders held that they had their origin from the accursed 
son, and therefore went almost naked ; that the Spaniards, as they 
were clothed, descended perhaps from the other. 

Many of the nations of America, says Clavigero, have the same 
tradition, agreeing nearly to what we have already related. It was 
the opinion of this author, that the nations who peopled the Mexi- 
can empire belonged to the posterity of Naphtuhim — (the same, 
we imagine, with Japheth ;) and that their ancestors, having left 
Egypt not long after the confusion of the ancient language, travel- 



272 TRAITS OF MOSAIC HISTORY. 

led towards America, crossing over on the isthmus, which it is 
supposed once united America with the African continent, but 
since has been beaten down by the operation of the waters of the 
Atlantic on the north, and of the Southern ocean on the south, or 
by the operation of earthquakes. 

Now we consider the comparative perfection of the preserva- 
tion of this Bible account as an evidence that the people among 
whom it was found must have settled in this country at a very 
early period of time after the flood, and that they did not wander 
any more, but peopled the continent, cultivating it, building towns 
and cities, after their manner, the vestiges of which are so abun- 
dant to this day ; and on this account, viz., their fixedness, their 
traditionary history was not as liable to become lost, as it would 
have undoubtedly been had they wandered, as many other nations 
of the old world have done. As evidence of the presence of a 
Hindoo population in the southern, as well as the western parts 
of North America, we bring the Mexican traditions respecting 
some great religious teacher who once came among them. These 
say, that a wonderful personage, whom they name Quetzalcoail, 
appeared among them, who was a white and bearded man. This 
person assumed the dignity of acting as a priest and legislator, 
and became the chief of a religious sect, which, like the Songasis, 
and the Buddhists of Hindostan, inflicted on themselves the most 
cruel penances. He introduced the custom of piercing the lips 
and ears, and lacerating the rest of the body, with the prickles ot 
the agave and leaves, the thorns of the cactus, and of putting reeds 
into the wounds, in order that the blood might be seen to trickle 
more copiously. In all this, says Humboldt, we seem to behold 
one of those Rishi, hermits of the Ganges, whose pious austerity 
is celebrated in the books of the Hindoos. 

Respecting this white and bearded man, much is said in their 
tradition, recorded in their books of skin ; and among other things, 
that after a long stay with them he suddenly left them, promising 
to return again in a short time, to govern them and renew their 
happiness. This person resembles, very strongly, in his promise 
to return again, the behavior of Lycurgus, the Spartan lawgiver, 
who, on his departure from Ijacedaemon, bound all the citizens 



TRAITS OF MOSAIC mSTORY. 273 

under an oath, both for themselves and posterity, that they would 
neither violate nor abolish his laws till his return ; and soon after, 
in the Isle of Crete, he put himself to death, so that his return be- 
came impossible. 

It was the posterity of this man whom the unhappy MontezU" 
ma thought he recognised in the soldiers of Cortez, the Spanish 
conqueror of Mexico. " We know," said the unhappy monarch, 
in his first interview with the Spanish general,' " by our books, 
that myself, and those who inhabit this country, are not natives, 
but strangers, who came from a great distance. We know, also, 
that the chief who led our ancestors -hither returned, for a certain 
time, to his primitive country, and thence came back to seek those 
who were here established, who after a while returned again, 
alone. We always believed that his descendants would one day 
come to take possession of this country. Since you arrive from 
that region where the sun rises, I cannot doubt but that the king 
who sends you is our natural master." •'' 

Humboldt says that the Azteca tribes left their country, Azta- 
Ian, in the year of our Lord 544 ; and wandered to the south or 
southwest, coming at last to the vale of Mexico. It would appear 
from this view, that as the nations of Aztalan, with their fellow 
nations, left vast works, and a vast extent of country, apparently 
in a state of cultivation, with cities and villages, more in number 
than three thousand, as Breckenridge supposed, they must, there- 
fore, have settled here long before the Christian era. 

And this Quetzalcoatl, a celebrated minister of these opinions, 
appears to have been the first who announced the religion of the 
east among the people of the west. There was also one other 
minister, or Brahmin, who appeared among the Mozca tribes in 
South America, whom they named Bochica. This personage 
taught the worship of the sun ; and, if we were to judge, we should 
pronounce him a missionary of the Confucian system, a worship- 
per of fire, which was the religion of the ancient Persians, of 
whose country Confucius was a native. "'^^This also is evidence 
that the first inhabitants of America came here at a period neai 
the flood, long before that worship was known, or they would 
have had a knowledge of this Persian worship,' which was intro^ 

18 



274 TRAITS OF MOSAIC HISTORY. 

duced by Bochica among the American nations, which, it seems, 
they had not, imtil taught by this man. 

Bochica, it appears, became a legislator among those nations, 
and changed the form of their government to a fonn, the con- 
struction of which, says Baron Humboldt, bears a strong analogy 
to the governments of Japan and Thibet, on account of the pon- 
tiffs holding in their hands both the secular and the spiritual 
reins. In Japan, an island on the east of Asia, or rather many 
islands, which compose the Japanese empire, is found a religious 
sect, styled Sinto, who do not believe in the sanguinary rites of 
shedding either human blood, or that of animals, to propitiate 
their gods ; they even abstain from animal food, and detest blood- 
shed, and will not touch any dead body. — [Morse's Geography, 
p. 523.) 

There is in South America a whole nation who eat nothing but 
vegetables, and who hold in abhorrence those who feed on flesh. 
—{Humboldt, p. 200.) 

Such a coincidence in the religion of nations can scarcely be 
supposed to exist, unless they are of one origin. Therefore, from 
what we have related above, and a few pages back, it is clear, 
both from the tradition of the Aztecas, who lived in the western 
regions before they went to the south, and from the fact that na- 
tions on the Asiatic side of Bhering's Strait have come annually 
over the strait to fight the nations of the northwest, that we, in this 
way, have given conclusive and satisfactory reasons why, in the 
western mounds and tumuli, are found evident tokens of the pre- 
sence of a Hindoo population ; or, at least, of nations influenced 
by the superstitions of that people, through the means of mission- 
aries of those castes, and that they did not bring those opinions 
and ceremonies with them when they first left Asia, after the 
confusion of the antediluvian language, as led on by their fifteen 
chiefs ; till, by some means, and at some period, they finally found 
this country — not by the way of Bhering's Strait, but by some 
nearer course. 

Perhaps a few words on the supposed native country of Quet- 
zalcoatl may be allowed ; who, as we have stated, is reported to 
nave been a white and bearded man, by the Mexican Aztecas. 



TRAITS OF MOSAIC HISTORY. 275 

There is a vast range of islands on the northeast of Asia, in the 
Pacific, situated not very far from Bhering's Strait, in latitude be- 
tween forty and fifty degrees north. The inhabitants of these 
islands, when first discovered, were found to be far in advance in 
the arts and civilization, and a knowledge of government, of their 
continental neighbors, the Chinese and Tartars. The island of 
Jesso, in particular, is of itself an empire, comparatively, being very 
populous, and its people are also highly polished in their manners. 
The inhabitants maybe denominated white — their women especial- 
ly, whom Morse, in his geography of the Japan, Jesso, and other 
islands in that range, says expressly are white, fair, and ruddy. 
Humboldt says they are a bearded race of men, like Europeans. 

It appears that the ancient government of these islands, especial 
ly that of Japan, which is neighbor to that of Jesso, was in the hands 
of spiritual monarchs and pontiffs till the seventeenth century. 
As this was the form of government introduced by Quetzalcoatl, 
when he first appeared among the Azteca tribes, which we sup- 
pose was in the country of Aztalan, or Western States, may it not 
be conjectured that he was a native of some of those islands, who 
in his wanderings had found his way hither, on errands of bene- 
volence ; as it is said in the tradition respecting him, that he 
preached peace among men, and wovild not allow any other offer- 
ing to the divinity than the first fruits of the harvest, which doc- 
trine was in character with the mild and amiable manners of the 
inhabitants of those islands. And that peculiar and striking re- 
cord, found painted on the Mexican skin-books, which describes 
him to have been a white and bearded man, is our other reason for 
supposing him to have been a native of some of these islands, and 
most probably Jesso, rather than any other country. 

The inhabitants of these islands originated from China, and with 
them undoubtedly carried the Persian doctrines of the worship of 
the sun and fire ; consequently, we find it taught to the people of 
Aztalan and Mexico, by such as visited them from China or the 
islands above named ; as it is clear the sun was not the original 
object of adoration in Mexico, but rather the power which mad^ 
the sun. So Noah worshipped. 

Their traditions also recognise another important chief, who led 



276 ORIGIN OF FIRE-WORSHIP. 

the Azteca tribes first to the country of Aztalan, long before the 
appearance of Quetzalcoatl or Bochica among them. This great 
leader they name Tecpaltzin, and doubtless allude to the time 
when they first found their way to America, and settled in the 
western region. — [Priest.] 



ORIGIN OF FIRE-WORSHIP. 

For many ages the false religions of the East had remained 
stationary ; but in this period, magianism received considerable 
strenjrth from the writings of Zoroaster. He was a native of Me- 
dia. He pretended to a visit in heaven, where God spoke to him 
out of a fire. This fire he pretended to bring with him on his 
return. It was considered holy — the dwelling of God. The 
priests were for ever to keep it, and the people were to worship 
before it. He caused fire-temples everywhere to be erected, that 
storms and tempests might not extinguish it. As he considered 
God as dwelling in the fire, he made the sun to be his chief resi- 
dence, and therefore the primary object of worship. He aban- 
doned the old system of two gods, one good and the other evil, 
and taught the existence of one Supreme, who had under him a 
good and evil angel — the immediate authors of good and evil. 
To gain reputation, he retired into a cave, and there lived a long 
time a recluse, and composed a book called the Zend-Avesta, 
which contains the liturgy to be used in the fire-temples, and the 
chief doctrines of his religion. His success in propagating his 
system was astonishingly great. Almost all the eastern world, for 
a season, bowed before him. He is said to have been slain, with 
eighty of his priests, by a Scythian prince, whom he attempted to 
convert to his religion. 

It is manifest that he derived his whole system of God's dwel- 
ling in the fire, from the burning bush, out of which God spake to 
Moses. He was well acquainted with the Jewish Scriptures. He 
gave the same history of the creation and deluge that Moses had 
given, and inserted a great part of the Psalms of David into his 



MEXICAN STONE CALENDAR. ^ 277 

writings. The Mehestani, his followers, believed in the immor- 
tality of the soul, in future rewards and punishments, and in .the 
purification of the body by fire ; after which they would be united 
to the good. — {MarsJCs Ecclesiastical History, p. 78.) From the 
same origin, that of the burning bush, it is altogether probable the 
worship of fire, for many ages, obtained over the whole habitable 
earth ; and is still to be traced in the funeral piles of the Hindoos, 
the beacon-fires of the Scotch and Irish, the periodical midnight 
fires of the Mexicans, and the council-fires of the North American 
Indians, around which they dance. 

A custom among the natives of New Mexico, as related by 
Baron Humboldt, is exactly imitated by a practice found still in 
some parts of Ireland, among the descendants of the ancient 
Irish. 

At the commencement of the month of November, the great fire 
of Sumhuin is lit up, all the culinary fires in the kingdom being 
first extinguished, as it was deemed sacrilege to awaken the win- 
ter's social flame except by a spark snatched from this sacred fire ; 
on which account, the month of November is called, in the Irish 
language, Sumhuin. 

To this day, the inferior Irish look upon bonfires as sacred ; 
they say their prayers walking round them, the young dream upon 
their ashes, and the old take this fire to light up their domestic 
hearths, imagining some secret undefinable excellence connected 
with it. — [Priest.] 



GREAT STONE CALENDAR OF THE MEXICANS. 

This stone was found near the site of the present city of Mexico, 
buried some feet beneath the soil, on which is engraven a great 
number of hieroglyphics, signifying the divisions of time, the 
motions of the heavenly bodies, the twelve signs of the Zodiac, 
with reference to the feasts and sacrifices of the Mexicans, and is 
called by Humboldt the Mexican Calendar, in relief, on basaJt, a 
kind of stone. 



278 MEXICAN STONE CALENDAR. 

This deservedly celebrated historiographer and antiquarian has 
devoted a hundred pages and more of his octavo w^ork, entitled 
" Researches in America" in describing the similarity which exists 
between its representations of astrology, astronomy, and the di- 
visions of time, and those of a great multitude of the nations of 
Asia — Chinese, Japanese, Calmucks, Mongols, Mantchaus, and 
other Tartar nations ; the Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Phoe 
nicians, Greeks, Romans, Hebrews, and ancient Celtic nations of 
Europe. (See the American edition by Helen Maria Williams, 
vol. i.) The size of this stone was very great, being a fraction 
over twelve feet square, three feet in thickness, weighing twenty- 
four tons. It is of the kind of stone denominated trappean por- 
phyry, of the blackish gray color. 

The place where it was found was more than thirty miles from 
any quarry of the kind ; from which we discover the ability of the 
ancient inhabitants not only to transport stones of great size, as 
well as the ancient Egyptians, in building their cities and temples 
of marble, but also to cut and engrave on stone, equal with the 
present age. 

It was discovered in the vale of Mexico, in A. D. 1791, in the 
spot where Cortez ordered it to be buried, when, with his fero- 
cious Spaniards, that country was devastated. That Spaniard 
universally broke to pieces all images of stone which came in his 
way, except such as were too large and strong to be quickly 
and easily thus affected. Such he buried, among which this 
sculptured stone was one. This was done to hide them from the 
sight of the natives, whose strong attachment, whenever they saw 
them, counteracted their conversion to the Roman Catholic re- 
ligion. 

The sculptured work on this stone is in circles ; the outer one 
of all is a trifle over twenty-seven feet in circumference — from 
which the reader can have a tolerable notion of its size and ap- 
pearance. The whole stone is intensely crowded with repre- 
sentations and hieroglyphics, arranged, however, in order and har- 
mony, every way equal with any astronomical calendar of the 
present day. It is further described by Baron Humboldt, who 
saw and examined it on the spot : — 



MEXICAN STONE CALENDAR. 279 

*' The concentric circles, the numerous divisions and subdivis 
ions engraven on this stone, are traced with mathematical pre- 
cision. The more minutely the detail of this sculpture is exam- 
ined, the greater the taste we find in the re|)etition of the same 
forms. In the centre of the stone is sculptured the celebrated sign 
nahuiolin-TonafAuhy the Sun, which is surrounded by eight trian- 
gular radii. The god Tonatiuh, or the sun, is figiu'ed on this 
stone, opening his large mouth, armed with teeth, with the tongue 
protruded to a great length. This yawning mouth and pro- 
truded tongue is like the image ofKala,ox, in another word, Time 
— a divinity of Hindostan. - Its dreadful mouth, armed with teeth, 
is meant to show that the god Tonatiuh, or Time, swallows the 
world, opening a fiery mouth, devouring the years, months, and 
days, as fast as they come into being. The same image we find 
under the name of Moloch among the Phoenicians, some of the an- 
cient inhabitants on the eastern side of the Mediterranean, from 
which very country there can be but little doubt America received 
a portion of its earliest inhabitants." Hence a knowledge of the 
arts to great perfection, as found among the Mexicans, was thus 
derived. Humboldt says the Mexicans have evidently followed 
the Persians in the division of time, as represented on this stone. 
The Persians flourished one thousand years before Christ. 

" The structure of the Mexican aqueducts leads the imagina- 
tion at once to the shores of the Mediterranean." — {Thomases 
Travels, p. 293.) The size, grandeur, and riches of the tumuli on 
the European and Asiatic sides of the Cimmerian strait (which 
unites the Black sea with the Archipelago, a part of the Mediter- 
ranean, the region of ancient Greece, where the capital of Turkey 
in Europe now stands, called Constantinople), " excite astonishing 
ideas of the wealth and power of the people by whom they were 
constructed." 

But whatever power, wealth, genius, magnitude of tumuli, 
mounds and pyramids are found about the Mediterranean — where 
the Egyptian, the Phoenician, the Persian, and the Greek, have 
displayed the monuments of this most ancient sort of antiquities — 
all, all is realized in North and South America, and doubtless un- 
der the influence of the same superstition and eras of time, — 



280 SCIENTIFIC ACQUIREMENTS 

having crossed over, as before argued ; and among the various 
aboritrinal nations of South and North America, but especially the 
former, are undoubtedly found the descendants of the fierce Medes 
and Persians, and other warlike nations of the old world. 

The discoveries of travellers in that country show, even at the 
present time, that the ancient customs in relation to securing their 
habitations with a wall still prevail. Towns in the interior of 
Africa, on the river Niger, of great extent, are found to be sur- 
rounded by walls of earth, in the same manner as those of the 
West in North America. 

See the account as given by Richard Lander : " On the 4th of 
May, we entered a town of prodigious extent, fortified with three 
walls of little less than twenty miles in circuit, with ditches or 
moats between. This town, called Boo-hoo, is in the latitude of 
about eight degrees forty-three minutes north, and longitude five 
degrees and ten minutes east. On the 17th, we came to Roossa, 
which is a cluster of huts walled with earth." 

This traveller states that there is a kingdom in Africa called 
Yaorie, which is large, powerful, and flourishing, containing a city 
of prodigious extent. The wall surrounding it is of clay, very 
high, and in circuit between twenty and thirty miles. He 
mentions several other places, similarly enclosed by earth walls. 

It is easy to perceive the resemblance between these walled 
towns in central Africa, and the remains of similar works in this 
country, America. — [Priest.] 



SCIENTIFIC ACQUIREMENTS OF ANCIENT BUILD- 
ERS IN THE WEST. 

As it respects the scientific acquirements of the builders of the 
works in the West, now in ruins, Mr. Atwater says : " When 
thoroughly examined, they have furnished matter of admiration to all 
intelligent persons who have attended to the subject. Nearly all 
the lines of ancient works found in the whole country, where the 
form of the ground admits of it, are right ones, pointing to the 



OF ANCIENT BUILDERS. 281 

four cardinal points. Where there are mounds enclosed, the 
gateways are most frequently on the east side of the works, to- 
wards the rising sun. Where the situation admits of it, in their 
military works, the openings are generally towards one or more of s 
the cardinal points. From which it is supposed they must have 
had some knowledge of astronomy, or their structures would not, 
it is imagined, have been thus arranged. From these circumstan- 
ces, also, we draAv the conclusion^ that the first inhabitants of 
America emigrated from Asia, at a period coeval with that of -f 
Babylon, for here it was that astronomical calculations were first 
made, 2234 years befor'e Christ. ■>■ 

" These things could never have so happened, with such inva- 
riable exactness in almost all cases, without design. On the 
whole," says Atwater, " I am convinced from an attention to many 
hundreds of these works, in every part of the West which I have 
visited, that their authors had a knowledge of astronomy. 

" Our ancient works continued into Mexico, increasing in size 
and grandeur, preserving the same forms, and appear to have been 
put to the same uses. The form of our works is round, square, 
triangular, semicircular, and octangular, agreeing, in ali these re- 
spec-ts with those in Mexico. The first works built by the Mexi- 
cans were mostly of earth, and not much superior to the common 
ones on the Mississippi." The same may be said of the works 
of this sort over the whole earth, which is the evidence that all 
alike belong to the first efforts of men in the very first ages after 
the flood. 

" But afterwards temples were erected on the elevated squares, 
circles, &c., but were still, like ours, surrounded by walls of earth. 
These sacred places, in Mexico, were called ' teocalli,^ which in 
the, vernacular tongue of the most ancient tribe of Mexicans, sig- 
nifies ' mansions of the gods.'' They included within their sacred 
walls, gardens, fountains, habitations of priests, temples, altars, 
and magazines of arms. This circumstance may account for 
many things which have excited some surprise among those who 
have hastily visited the works on Paint creek, at Portsmouth, 
Marietta, Circleville, Newark, &c. 

" It is doubted by many to what use these works were put ; 



282 PREDILECTION OF THE 

whether they were used as forts, camps, cemeteries, altars, and 
temples ; whereas they contained all these either within their walls 
or were immediately connected with them. Many persons cannot 
imagine why the works at the places above mentioned were so 
extensively complicated, differing so much in form, size, and ele- 
vation, among themselves." But the solution is, undoubtedly, 
" they contained within them altars, temples, cemeteries, habita- 
tions of priests, gardens, wells, fountains, places devoted to sacred 
purposes of various kinds, and the whole of their warlike muni- 
tions, laid up in arsenals. These works were calculated for de- 
fence, and were resorted to in cases of the last necessity, where 
they fought with desperation. We are warranted in this conclu- 
sion, by knowing that these works are exactly similar to the most 
ancient now to be seen in Mexico, connected with the fact, that 
the Mexican works did contain within them all that we have 
stated." — [Priest.] 



PREDILECTION OF THE ANCIENTS TO PYRAMIDS. 

In those early ages of mankind, it is evident there existed an 
unaccountable ambition among the nations, seemingly to outdo 
each other in the height of their pyramids ; for Humboldt men- 
tions the pyramids of Porsenna, as related by Varro, styled the 
most learned of the Romans, who flourished about the time of 
Christ ; and says there were at this place four pyramids, eighty 
meters in height, which is a fraction more than fifteen rods per- 
pendicular altitude : the meter is a French measure, consisting of 
three feet three inches. 

Not many years since was discovered, by some Spanish hunt- 
ers, on descending the Cordilleras toward the Gulf of Mexico, 
in the thick forest, the pyramid of Papantla. The form of this 
teocalli or pyramid, which had seven stories, is more tapering 
than any other monument of this kind yet discovered, but its 
height is not remarkable, being but fifty-seven feet — its base but 
twenty-five feet on each side. However, it is remarakable on one 



ANCIENTS TO PYRAMIDS. 283 

account : it is built entirely of hewn stones, of an extraordinary- 
size, and very beautifully shaped. Three stair-cases lead to its 
top, the steps of which were decorated with hieroglyphical sculp- 
ture and small niches, arranged with great symmetry. The num- 
ber of these niches seems to allude to the 318 simple and com- 
pound signs of the days of their civil calendar. If so, this monu- 
ment was erected for astronomical purposes. Besides, here is 
evidence of the use of metallic tools, in the preparation and build- 
ing of this temple. 

In those mounds were sometimes hidden the treasures of kings 
and chiefs, placed there in times of war and danger. Such was 
found to be the fact on opening the tomb of a Peruvian prince, 
when was discovered a mass of pure gold, amounting to 4,687,500 
dollars. — [Humboldt's Researches, vol. i. p. 92.) 

There is, in Central America, to the south-east of the city of 
Cuernuvaca, on the west declivity of Anahuac, an isolated hill, 
which, together with the pyramid raised on its top by the ancients 
of that country, amounts to thirty-five rods ten feet altitude. The 
ancient tower of Babel, around which the city of Babylon was 
afterward built, was a mere nothing compared with the gigantic 
work of Anahuac, being but twenty-four hundred feet square, which ^ 
is one hundred and fifty rods, or nearly so ; while the hill we are 
speaking of, partly natural and partly artificial, is at its base twelve 
thousand and sixty-six feet : this, thrown into rods, gives seven 
hundred and fifty-four, and into miles, is two and three eighths, 
wanting eight rods, which is five times greater than that of Babel. 

This hill is a mass of rocks, to which the hand of man has 
given a regular conic form, and which is divided into five stories 
or terraces, each of Avhich is covered with masonry. These ter- 
races are nearly sixty feet in perpendicular height, one above the 
other, besides the artificial mound added at the top, making its 
height near that of Babel ; besides, the whole is surrounded with 
a deep broad ditch, more than five times the circumference of the 
Babylonian tower. 

We learn from Scripture that in the earliest times the temples 
of Asia, such as that of Baal-Berith, at Shechem, in Canaan, were 
not only buildings consecrated to worship, but also intrenchments 



284 RUINS OF OTOLUM. 

in which the inhabitants of a city defended themselves in times 
of war ; the same may be said of the Grecian temples, for the 
wall which formed the parabolas alone afforded an asylum to the 
besieged. — [Priest.] 



THE REMAINS OF CITIES. 

The remains of cities and towns of an ancient population exist 
everywhere on the coast of the Pacific, which agree in fashion 
with the works and ruins found along the Chinese coasts, exactly 
west from the western limits of North America ; showing beyond 
all dispute that in ancient times the countries were known to each 
other, and voyages were reciprocally made. The style of their 
shipping was such as to be equal to voyages of that distance, and 
also sufficient to withstand stress of weather, even beyond ves- 
sels of the present times, on account of their great depth of keel 
and size. — [Priest.] 



RUINS OF THE CITY OF OTOLUM, DISCOVERED 
IN NORTH AMERICA. 

" Some years ago, the Society of Geography, in Paris, offered 
a large premium for a voyage to Guatemala, and for a new survey 
of the antiquities of Yucatan and Chiapa, chiefly those fifteen miles 
from Palenque." 

" They were surveyed by Captain Del Rio, in 1787, an account 
of which was published in English in 1822. This account de- 
scribes partly the ruins of a stone city, of no less dimensions than 
seventy-five miles in circuit, length thirty-two, and breadth 
twelve miles, full of palaces, monuments, statues, and inscriptions ; 
one of the earliest seats of American civilization, about equal to 
Thebes of ancient Egypt." 

It is stated in the Family Magazine, Vol. I., p. 266, as follows 



RUINS OF OTOLUM. 285 

" Public attention has been recently excited respecting the ruins 
of an ancient city found in Guatemala. It would seem that these 
ruins are now being explored, and much curious and valuable 
matter in a literary and historical point of view is anticipated. 
We deem the present a most auspicious moment, now that the. 
public attention is turned to the subject, to spread its contents be- 
fore our readers, as an introduction to future discoveries during 
the researches now in progress." 

The following are some particulars, as related by Captain Del 
Rio, who partially examined them as above related, 1787 : From 
Palenque, the last town northward in the province of Ciudad 
Real de Chiapa, taking a southwesterly direction, and ascending 
a ridge of high land that divides the kingdom of Guatemala from 
Yucatan, at the distance of six miles, is the little river MicoL 
whose waters flow in a westerly direction, and unite with the 
great river Tulija, which bends its course towards the province 
of Tabasco. Having passed Micol, the ascent begins ; and at 
half a league, or a mile and a half, the traveller crosses a little 
stream called Otolum ; from this point heaps of stone ruins are 
discovered, which render the roads very difficult for another half 
league, when you gain the height whereon the stone houses are 
situated, being still fourteen in number in one place, some more 
dilapidated than others, yet still having many of their apartments 
perfectly discernible. 

Here is a rectangular area, three hundred yards in breadth by four 
hundred and fifty in length, which is a fraction over fifty-six rods 
wide, and eighty-four rods long, being, in the whole circuit, two 
hundred and eighty rods, which is three-fourths of a mile, and a 
trifle over. This area presents a plain at the base of the highest 
mountain forming the ridge. In the centre of this plain is situated 
the largest of the structures which has been as yet discovered 
among these ruins. It stands on a mound or pyramid twenty 
yards high, which is sixty feet, or nearly four rods in perpendi- 
cular altitude, which gives it a lofty and beautiful majesty, as if it 
were a temple suspended in the sky. This is surrounded by 
other edifices, namely, five to the northward, four to the south- 
ward, one to the southwest, and three to the eastward — fourteen 



286 RUINS OF OTOLUM. 

in all. In all directions the fragments of other fallen buildings 
are seen extending along the mountain that stretches east and 
west either way from these buildings, as if they were the great 
temple of worship, or their government house, around which they 
built their city, and where dwelt their kings and officers of state. 
At this place was found a subterranean stone aqueduct, of great 
solidity and durability, which in its course passes beneath the 
largest building. 

Let it be understood, this city of Otolum, the ruins of which 
are so immense, is in North, not South America, in the same 
latitude with the island o-f Jamaica, which is about eighteen degrees 
north of the equator, being on the highest ground between the 
northern ej^d of the Caribbean sea and the Pacific ocean, where 
the continent narrows towards the isthmus of Darien, and is about 
eight hundred miles south of New Orleans. 

The discovery of these ruins, and also of many others, equally 
wonderful, in the same country, is just commencing to arouse 
the attention of the schools of Europe, who hitherto have denied 
that America could boast of her antiquities. But these immense 
ruins are now being explored under the direction of scientific per- 
sons, a history of which, in detail, will be forthcoming doubtless, 
in due time ; two volumes of which, in manuscript, we are in- 
formed, have already been written, and cannot but be received 
with enthusiasm by Americans. 

By those deeply versed in the antiquities of past ages^ it is 
contended that the first people who settled America came directly 
from Chaldea, immediately after the confusion of language at Ba- 
bel. — [See Description of the Ruins of the American City , published 
in London, 1832, p. 33, by Dr. Paul Felix Cabrera.)^^ Whoever 
the authors of the city may have been, we seem to find, in their 
sculptured deities, the idolatry of even the Phcenicians, a people 
whose history goes back nearly to the flood, or to within a hun- 
dred and fifty years of that period. 

It appears from some of the historical works of the Mexicans, 
written in pictures, which fell into the hands of the Spaniards, 
that there was found one which was written by Votan, who sets 
himself forth to be the third Gentile, (reckoning from the flood or 



RUINS OF OTOLUM. 287 

family of Noah,) and lord of the Tapanahuasec, or the sacred drum. 
In the book above alluded to, Votan says that he saw the great 
house which was built by his grandfather, meaning the tower of 
Babel, which went up from the earth to the sky. In one of those 
picture books, the account is given by the Indian historian, who' 
ever he was, or at whatever time he lived, that Votan had writ- 
ten it himself. He gives the account that he made no less than 
four voyages to this continent, conducting with him at one time 
seven families. He says that others of his family had gone away 
before himself, and that he was determined to travel till he should 
come to the root of heaven, the sky, (in the west,) in order to dis- 
cover his relations the Culebras, or Snake people, and calls himself 
Culebra, (a snake,) and that he found them, and became their cap- 
tain. He mentions the name of the town which his relation had 
built at first, which was Tezequil. 

Agreeing with this account, it is found by exploring the ruins 
of this city, and its sculptures, that among a multitude of strange 
representations are found two which represent this Votan, on 
both continents. The continents are shown by being painted in 
two parallel squares, and standing on each is this Votan, showing 
his acquaintance with each of them. The pictures engraven on 
the stones which form the sides of the houses or temples of this 
ruined city, are a series of hieroglyphics, which show, beyond all 
doubt, that the era of its construction, and of the people who 
built it, excels in antiquity those of the ancient Greeks, the Ro- 
mans, and the most celebrated nations of the old world, and is 
worthy of being compared even with the first progenitors of the 
Hebrews themselves, after the flood. — [See History of American 
City, as hefore quoted, p. 39.) 

It is found that the gods of the ancient Egyptians, even Osiris, 
Apis, and Isis, are sculptured on the stones of this city, the wor- 
ship of which passed from Egypt to many nations, and is found 
under many forms, but all traceable to the same original. We 
have examined the forms of the figures cut on the side of the fa- 
mous Obelisk of seventy-two feet in height, brought not long since 
from Egypt, by the French government, and erected in Paris ; 
and have compared them v/ith some of the sculptured forms of 



288 RUINS OF OTOLUM. 

men, found on the stones of this city, in which there is an exact 
correspondence in one remarkable particular. On the obelisk is 
represented a king or god seated on a throne, holding in one 
hand a rod grasped in its middle, having on its top the figure of a 
small bird. 

The arm holding this is extended toward a person who is rest- 
ing on one knee before him, and offers from each of his hands 
that which is either food, drink, or incense, to the one on the 
throne. The head ornaments are of the most fantastic construc- 
tion. The same without variation is cut in the stones of the 
mined American city in many places ; with this difference only, 
the American sculpture is much larger, as if representing gigan- 
tic beings, but is of the same character. Can we have a better 
proof than this, that Egyptian colonies have reached America 
in the very first ages of the world after the flood^ or some people 
having the notions, the religion, and the arts of the Egyptians, 
and such were the most ancient people of Canaan, the Hivites,' ' 
Perizzites, and Hitites, which names denote all these nations as 
serpent worshippers. 

As it respects the true founders of this city, the discovery and 
contents of which are now causing so great and general interest 
in both this country and Europe, it is ascertained in the most 
direct and satisfactory way, in the work to which we have just 
alluded, published in London, 1832, on the subject of this city, 
that they were the ancient Hivites, one of the nations which in- 
habited Palestine, or Canaan, a remnant of which, it is ascertain- 
ed, fled into the kingdom of Tyre, and there settled, and into 
Africa, to avoid annihilation by the wars of Joshua, the captain 
of the Jews ; and that among them was one who acted as a lead- 
er, and was called Votan, and that he sailed from a port in an- 
cient Tyre, which before it was known by that name, was called 
Chivim, and that this Votan was the third in the Gentile descent 
from Noah, and that he made several voyages to and from Ameri- 
ca. But the kingdom which was founded by Votan, was finally 
destroyed by other nations, and their works, their cities and towns, 
turned into a wilderness, as they are now found to be. (The 
word Hivite, which distinguished one of the nations of old Ca- 



RUINS OF OTOLUM. 289 

naan in the time of Joshua, signifies the same thing in the Phoe- 
nician language, Serpent people or worshippers.) The Hivites, 
it appears, were the ancestors of the Moors, who spread them- 
selves all along the western coast of Africa, at an early period, 
and in later times they overran the country of Spain, till the Ro- 
mans supplanted them ; who in their turn were supplanted by the 
northern nations of Germany, the Goths, &c. The Moors were 
not the proper Africans, as the hair of their heads was long, 
straight, and shining. They were a different race, and of different 
manners and attainments. The contour of the faces of the au- 
thors of the American city, found sculptured on the stones of its 
ruins, are in exact correspondence with the forehead and nose of 
the ancient Moors, the latter of which was remarkable for its aqui- 
line shape, and was a national trait, characteristic of the Moors 
as well as the Romans. 

When the Spaniards overran Peru, which lies on the western 
side of South America, on the coast of the Pacific were found v 
statues, obelisks, mausolea, edifices, fortresses, all of stone, equal 
with the architecture of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, six hundred 
years before the Christian era. Roads were cut through the Cor- 
dillera mountains ; gold, silver, copper, and lead mines, were 
opened and worked to a great extent ;' all of which is evidence 
of their knowledge of architecture, mineralogy, and agriculture. 
In many places of that country are found the ruins of noble aque- 
ducts, some of which, says Dr. Morse, the geographer, would 
have been thought works of difficulty in civilized nations. Seve- 
ral pillars of stone are now standing, which were erected to point 
out the equinoxes and solstices. In their sepxilchres were found 
paintings, vessels of gold and silver, implements of warfare, hus- 
bandry, &c. To illustrate the architectural knowledge of the 
Peruvians, as well as of some other provinces of South America, 
we quote the following from Baron Humboldt's Researches, 1st 
vol. Eng. Trans., Amer. ed., p. 255 : — " The remains of Peruvian 
architecture are scattered along the ridge of the Cordilleras, from 
Cuzco to Cajambe, or from the 13th degree of north latitude to 
the equator, a distance of nearly a thousand miles. What an em- 
pire, and what works are these, which all bear the same charaC" 

19 



y 



290 RUINS OF OTOLUM. 

ter in tlie cnt of the stones, the shape of the doors to their stone 
buildings, the synunetrical disposal of the niches, and the total 
absence of exterior ornaments ! This uniformity of construction 
is so great, that all the stations along the high road, called in that 
country palaces of the Incas, or kings of the Peruvians, appear 
to have been copied from each other ; simplicity, symmetry, and 
solidity, were the three characters by which the Penivian edifices 
were distinguished. The citadel of Cannar, and the square build- 
ing surrounding it, are not constructed with the same quartz sand- 
stone which covers the primitive slate, and the porphyries of As- 
suay ; and which appears at the surface, in the garden of the 
Inca, as we descend toward the valley of Gulan ; but of trappean 
porphyry, of great hardness, enclosing nitrous feldspar and horn- 
blende. This porphyry was perhaps dug in the great quarries 
which are found at 4000 meters in height, (which is 13,000 feet 
and a fraction, making two and a third miles in 'perpendicular 
height,) near the lake of Culebrilla, or Serpent lake, ten miles 
from Cannar. To cut the stones for the buildings of Cannar, at 
so great a height, and to bring them down and transport them 
ten miles, is equal with any of the works of the ancients, who 
built the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabia, long before 
the Christian era. 

" We do not find, however," says Humboldt, " in the ruins of 
Cannar, those stones of enormous size, which we see in the Pe- 
ruvian edifices of Cuzco and the neighboring countries. Acosto, 
V he says, measured some at Traquanaco, which were twelve meters 

\ (thirty-eight feet) long, and five meters eight tenths (eighteen 
/ feet) broad, and one metre nine tenths (six feet) thick." The 

stones made use of in building the temple of Solomon were but a 
trifle larger than these, some of which were twenty-five cubits 
(forty-three feet nine inches) long, twelve cubits (twenty-nine 
feet) wide, and eight cubits (fourteen feet) thick, reckoning 
twenty-one inches to the cubit." 

" One of the temples of ancient Egypt is now, in its state of 
ruin, a mile and a half in circumference. It has twelve principal 
entrances. The body of the temple consists of a prodigious hall 
or portico ; the roof is supported by 134 columns. Four beauti- 



RUINS OF OTOLUM. 291 

ful obelisks mark the entrance to the shrine, a place of sacrifice, 
which contains three apartments, built entirely of granite. The 
temple of Luxor probably surpasses in beauty and splendor all 
the other ruins of Egypt. In front are two of Xhe finest ohelishs 
in the world ; they are of rose-colored marble, one hundred feet 
high. But the objects which most attract attention, are the sculp 
tures which cover the whole of the northern front. They con- 
tain, on a great scale, a representation of a victory gained by one 
of the ancient kings of Egypt over an enemy. The number of hu 
man figures cut in the solid stone amounts to fifteen hundred ; 
of these, five hundred are on foot, and one thousand in chariots. 
Such are the remains of a city which perished long before the 
records of ancient history had a being." — Malte-Brun. 

We are compelled to ascribe some of the vast operations of the 
ancient nations of this country, to those ages which correspond 
with the times and manners of the people of Egypt, which are 
also beyond the reach of authentic history. It should be recol- 
lected that the fleets of king Hiram navigated the seas in a sur- 
prising manner, seeing they had not, as is supposed, (but not 
proved,) a knowledge of the magnetic needle ; and in some voyage 
out of the Mediterranean, into the Atlantic, they may have been 
driven to South America ; where having found a country rich in 
all the resources of nature, more so than even their native country, 
they founded a kingdom, built cities, cultivated fields, marshalled 
armies, made roads, built aqueducts, became rich, magnificent, and 
powerful, as the vastness and extent of the ruins of Peru, and 
other provinces of South America, plainly show. 

Humboldt says, that he saw at Pullal three houses made of 
stone, which were built by the Incas, (kings,) each of which was 
more than fifty meters, or a hundred and fifty feet long, laid in a 
cement, or true mortar. This fact, he says, deserves attention, 
because travellers who had preceded him had unanimously over- 
looked this circumstance, asserting that the Peruvians were un* 
acquainted with the use of mortar, but this is erroneous. The Peru- 
vians not only employed a mortar in the great edifices of Pacari- 
tambo, but made use of a cement of asphaltum ; a mode of con- 
struction which, on the banks of the Euphrates and the Tigris, 



292 ANCIENT LANGUAGES OF AMERICA. 

may be traced back to the remotest antiquity. ' The tools made 
use off to cut their stone were of copper, hardened with tin, the 
same metal used among the Greeks and Romans, and other nations. 
To show the genius and enterprise of the natives of Mexico, 
before America was last discovered, we give the following as but 
a single instance : Montezuma, the last king but one of Mexico, 
A. D. 1446, forty-six years before the discovery of America by 
Columbus, erected a dike to prevent the overflowing of the wa- 
ters of certain small lakes in the vicinity of their city, which had 
several times deluged it. This dike consisted of a bank of stones 
and clay, supported on each side by a range of palisadoes ; ex- 
tending in its whole length about seventy miles, and sixty-five 
feet broad, its whole length sufficiently high to intercept the over- 
flowings of the lakes in times of high water, occasioned by the 
spring floods. In Holland, the Dutch have resorted to the same 
means to prevent incursions of the sea ; and the longest of the 
many is but forty miles in extent, nearly one half short of the 
Mexican dike. "Amidst the extensive plains of Upper Canada, 
in Florida, near the gulf of Mexico, and in the deserts bordered 
by the Orinoco, in Colombia, dikes of a considerable length, 
weapons of brass, and sculptured stones, are found, which are the 
indications that those countries were formerly inhabited by in- 
dustrious nations, which are now traversed only by tribes of sa- 
vage hunters " — [Priest.] 



ANCIENT LANGUAGES OF THE FIRST INHABIT- 
ANTS OF AMERICA. 

Letter to M. Champollion, on the Graphic Systems of America, 
and the Glyphs of Otolum or Palenque, in Central America. — 
By C. S. Rafinesque. 

You have become celebrated by deciphering, at last, the glyphs 
and characters of the ancient Egyptians, which all your learned 
predecessors had deemed a riddle, and pronounced impossible to 



ANCIENT LANGUAGES OF AMERICA. 293 

read. You first announced your discoveiy in a letter. I am o-oino- 
to follow your footsteps on another continent, and a theme equally 
obscure ; to none but yourself can I address with more propriety 
letters on a subject so much alike in purpose and importance, and 
so similar to your own labors. 

I shall not enter at present into any very elaborate discussion. 
I shall merely detail, in a concise manner, the object and result 
,of my inquiries, so as to assert my claim to a discovery of some 
importance in a philological and historical point of view : which 
was announced as early as 1828 in some journals (three letters to 
Mr. M'CuUoch on the American nations), but not properly illus- 
trated. Their full development would require a volume, like that 
of yours on the Egyptian antiquities, and may follow this perhaps 
at some future time. 

It may be needful to prefix the following principles as guides to 
my researches, or results of my inquiries : — 

1. America has been the land of false systems ; all thpse made 
in Europe on it are more or less vain and erroneous. 

2. The Americans were equal in antiquity, civilization, and 
sciences, to the nations of Africa and Europe — like them, the 
children of the Asiatic nations. 

3. It is false that no American nations had systems of writing, 
glyphs, and letters. Several had various modes of perpetuating 
ideas. 

4. There were several such graphic systems in America to ex- 
press ideas, all of which find equivalents in the east continent. 

5. They may be ranged in twelve series, proceeding from the 
most simple to the most complex. 

1st Series. — Pictured symbols or glyphs of the Toltecas, Az- 
tecas, Huaztecas, Skeres, Panes, &c. ; similar to the first sym- 
bols of the Chinese, invented by Tien-hoang, before the flood and 
earliest Egyptian glyphs. 

2d Series. — Outlines of figures or abridged symbols and glyphs, 
expressing words or ideas, used by almost all the nations of North 
and South America, even the most rude ; similar to the second 
kind of Egyptian symbols, and the tortoise letters brought to 
China by the Longma (dragon and horse) nation of barbarous 
horsemen, under Sui-gin. 



294 ANCIENT LANGUAGES OF AMERICA. 

3d Series. — Quipos or knots on strings used by the Peru\'ians 
and several other South American nations ; similar to the third 
kind of Chinese glyphs introduced under Yong-Ching, and used 
also by many nations of Africa. 

Atk Series. — Wampums, or strings of shells and beads, used by- 
many nations of North America ; similar to those used by some 
ancient or rude nations in all parts of the world, as tokens of 
ideas. 

5th Series. — Runic glyphs or marks, and notches on twigs or 
lines, used by several nations of North America ; consimilar to 
the Runic glyphs of the Celtic and Teutonic nations. 

6th Series. — Runic marks and dots, or graphic symbols, not on 
strings nor lines, but in rows, expressing words or ideas ; used by 
the ancient nations of North America and Mexico, the Talegas, 
Aztecas, Natchez, Powhatans, Tuscaroras, &c., and also the Mu- 
hizcas of South America ; similar to the ancient symbols of the 
Etruscans, Egyptians, Celts, &c., and the Ho-tu of the Chinese, 
invented by Tsang-hie, called also the Ko-teu-chu letters, which 
were in use in China till 827 before our era. 

1th Series. — Alphabetical symbols, expressing syllables or 
sounds, not words, but grouped, and the groups disposed in rows ; 
such is the graphic system of the monuments of Otolum, near 
Palenque, the American Thebes ; consimilar to the groups of 
alphabetical symbols used by the ancient Libyans, Egyptians, 
Persians, and also the last graphic system of the Chinese, called 
Ventze, invented by Sse-hoang. 

8th Series. — Cursive symbols in groups, and the groups in 
parallel rows, derived from the last (which are chiefly monumen- 
tal), and used in the manuscripts of the Mayans, Guatemalans, &c. ; 
consimilar to the actual cursive Chinese, some demotic Egyptian, 
and man^ modifications of ancient graphic alphabets, grouping the 
letters or syllables. 

9fh Series. — Syllabic letters, expressing syllables, not simple 
sounds, and disposed in rows. Such is the late syllabic alphabet 
of the Cherokees, and many graphic inscriptions found in North 
and South America. Similar to the syllabic alphabets of Asia, 
Africa, and Polynesia. 



ANCIENT LANGUAGES OF AMERICA. 295 

10th Series. — Alphabets, or graphic letters, expressing simple 
sounds, and disposed in rows. Found in many inscriptions, 
medals, and coins in North and South America, and lately intro- 
duced everywhere by the European colonists ; similar to the 
alphabets of Asia, Africa, and Europe. 

1 1th Series. — Abbreviations, or letters standing for whole words, 
or part of a glyph and graphic delineation, standing and expressing 
tMe whole ; used by almost all the writing nations of North and 
South America, as well as Asia, Europe, and Africa. 

12th Series. — Numeric system of graphic signs, to express 
numbers. All the various kinds of signs, such as dots, lines, 
strokes, circles, glyphs, letters, &c., used by some nations of 
North and South America, as well as in the eastern continent. 

Some years ago, the Society of Geography, of Paris, offered a 
large premium for a voyage to Guatemala, and a new survey of 
the antiquities of Yucatan and Chiapa, chiefly those fifteen miles 
from Palenque, which are wrongly called by that name. I have 
restored to them the true name of Otolum, which is yet the name 
of the stream running through the ruins. I should have been 
inclined to undertake this voyage and exploration myself, if the 
civil discords of the country did not forbid it. My attention 
was drawn forcibly to this subject as soon as the account of 
those ruins, surveyed by Captain Del Rio as early as 1787, but 
withheld from the public eye by Spain, was published in 1822, in 
English. 

This account, which partly describes the ruins of a stone city 
seventy-five miles in circuit (length thirty-two English miles, 
greatest breadth twelve miles), full of palaces, monuments, statues, 
and inscriptions — one of the earliest seats of American civiliza- 
tion, about equal to Thebes of Egypt — was well calculated to 
inspire me with hopes that they would throw a great light over 
American history, when more properly examined. 

I have been disappointed in finding that no traveller has dared 
to penetrate again to that recondite place, and illustrate all the ruins 
and monuments, with the languages yet spoken all around. The 
Society of Geography has received many additional accounts, de- 
rived from documents preserved in Mexico ; but they have not 



296 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO. 

been deemed worthy of the reward offered for a new siirvey, and 
have not even been published. The same has happened with 
TiahuanacOj in Bolivia, in South America, another mass of an- 
cient ruins, and a mine of historical knowledge, which no late 
traveller has A-isited or described. 

Being, therefore, without hope of any speedy accession to our 
knowledge of those places, I have been compelled to work upon 
the materials now extant, which have happily enabled me to do a 
great deal, notwithstanding all their defects, and throw some light 
on that part of the history of America. 

Philadelphia, January, 1832. 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO. 

From Clavigero, Storia del Messico — from Solis, Boturim, 
Herrera, Bemal Dias, and other authors, we learn the state of 
the arts in Mexico prior to the invasion of the Spaniards ; the 
progress made by that people in science ; the form of their gov- 
ernment, and of their hierarchy : and from the simple and imaf- 
fected narrative of Cortez, contained in his letters to Charles the 
Fifth, we may gather pretty accurate knowledge of their resources, 
and of the number and character of the population. 

Some idea may be formed of the civilization of a people, by the 
nature of their government, their civil institutions, and the laws 
by which they are governed. In Mexico, the monarch was elected 
from among the members of the reigning family, by six electors, 
chosen from among the thirty princes of the first rank. The po- 
litical system was feudal. The first class of nobles, consisting 
of thirty families, had each one hundred thousand vassals. There 
were more than three thousand families in the second class. The 
vassals were serfs attached to the soil, over whom the lord exer- 
cised the right of life and death. All the lands were divided into 
allodial, hereditary-, and contingent estates — the latter depending 
upon places in the gift of the crown. 

The priests were charged with the education of the youth ; and 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO. 297 

on their testimony of the merit of their scholars, depended their 
future rank. Each province was subject to a tribute, except cer- 
tain nobles who were compelled to take the field, in case of a war, 
with a stated number of followers. The tribute was paid in kind, 
and was fixed at one thirtieth part of the crop. Besides which, the 
governors of provinces vied with each other in the magnificence 
of the presents which they sent to the emperor. 

In the quarto edition of Lorenzano, there are plates of the 
figures, by means of which the receivers and administrators kept 
an account of the tribute due by each province. 

There was an Octroi upon provisions, levied in every city. 
Posts were established between the capital and the remotest prov- 
inces of the empire. 

Sacrilege, treason, and murder, were punished with death ; and 
Cortez protests that the Mexicans respected the laws of the empire 
fully as much as the Spaniards did those of Spain. 

The emperor was served with great magnificence and Asiatic 
pomp. 

The attention of the government was principally directed toward 
the internal commerce, so as to secure an abundant supply to the 
people. 

A court of ten magistrates determined the validity of contracts ; 
and of&cers were constantly employed to examine the measures 
and the quality of the goods exposed for sale. 

Under Montezmna, the government was despotic, and, in his 
turn, he was governed by the high-priest. It will be recollected 
that at the last siege of the capital, when the emperor and his 
council had resolved to accept any terms rather than prolong a 
hopeless contest, the high-priest opposed them and broke off the 
treaty. 

Besides the empire of the Mexicans, there were other power- 
ful states, whose form of government was republican ; and Cortez 
compared them to the republics of Pisa, Venice, and Genoa. 

I must refer the reader to Clavigero and Lorenzano, for the 
history of Tlascala, the most powerful of those states, the 
government of which existed some time after the conquest of 
Mexico. 



298 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO. 

Tlascala was a thickly-settled, fertile, and populous councry^ 
divided into several districts, under the authority of a chief. 
These chiefs administered justice, levied the tribute, and com- 
manded the military forces ; but their decrees were not valid, or 
of force, until confirmed by the senate of Tlascala, which was 
the true sovereign. 

A certain number of citizens, chosen from the different districts 
by popular assemblies, formed this legislative body. The senate 
elected its own chief. The laws were strictly and impartially 
executed ; and Cortez represents this people as numerous, wealthy, 
and warlike. 

"^v The Mexicans possessed some knowledge of astronomy, and 
their calendar was constructed with more exactness than that of 
the Greeks, the Romans, or the Egyptians/ Their hieroglyphic 
drawings and maps — their cities and artificial roads, causeways, 
canals, and immense pyramids — their government and hierarchy, 
and administration of laws — their knowledge of the art of 
mining, and of preparing metals for armament and use — their 
skill in carving images out of the hardest stone — in manufactur- 
ing and dyeing cloths, and the perfection of their agriculture, 
inspire us with a high opinion of the civilization of the Mexicans 
at the time of the conquest : especially when we take into con- 
sideration the period when they are described to have reached 
this state of excellence in the arts and sciences. We ought 
always to bear in mind the state of Europe at the same period, 
before the Reformation, and before the discovery of the art of 
printing. Cortez compares Mexico with Spain, and frequently 
to the advantage of the former. The only circumstance wanting 
to have rendered their state of society more perfect than that of 
Spain, appears to have been a more pure religion, and the use of 
animals for domestic purposes. 

The peasants were compelled to carry heavy loads, like beasts 
of burden ; and in their religious worship the most shocking su- 
perstition prevailed. Their altars were frequently stained with 
the blood of human sacrifices. 

We cannot judge of the character of the population, prior to 
the conquest, by the Indians we now see. The priests, who pos- 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO. 299 

sessed all the learning, were destroyed ; the princes and nobles 
were deprived of their property, and in fact reduced to a level 
with the lowest class ; and the serfs, who are, and always have 
been an oppressed and degraded people, are alone to represent the 
former Mexicans. 

Humboldt says, that " it is difficult to appreciate, justly, the 
moral character of the native Mexicans, if we consider this caste, 
which has so long suffered under a barbarous tyranny, only in its 
present state of degradation. At the commencement of the Span- 
ish conquest, the wealthy Indians, for the most part, perished, 
victims of the ferocity of the Europeans. Christian fanaticism 
persecuted the Aztec priests ; they exterminated the Teopixqui, or 
ministers of the Divinity, all who inhabited the teocalli, or tem- 
ples, and who could be regarded as depositaries of historical, my- 
thological, and astronomical knowledge. The monks burnt the 
hieroglyphic paintings, by which knowledge of every sort was 
transmitted from generation to generation. Deprived of these 
means of instruction, the people relapsed into a state of ignorance 
so much the more profound, that the missionaries, little skilled in 
the Mexican languages, substituted few new ideas for the ancient. 
The Indian women, who preserved some fortune, preferred allying 
themselves with the conquerors, to partaking the contempt enter- 
tained for the Indians. There remained, therefore, of the natives, 
none but the most indigent, the poor cultivators, mechanics, por- 
ters, who were used as beasts of burden — and, above all, the 
dregs of the people, that crowd of beggars, which marked the im- 
perfection of the social institutions and the feudal yoke, and who, 
even in the time of Cortez, filled the streets of the great cities of 
Mexico. How, then, shall we judge from these miserable re- 
mains of a powerful people, either of the degree of civilization 
to which it had reached, from the twelfth to the sixteenth 
century, or of the intellectual development of which it is sus- 
ceptible ?" 

Shortly after Cortez landed his small army at Vera Cruz, he 
received messengers from Montezuma, bringing with them pre- 
sents to a considerable amount, and entreating the Spanish com- 
mander not to march further into the country. The sight of this 



300 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO. 

display of wealth stimulated the cupidity of the Spaniards, and 
confirmed Cortez in his determination to penetrate to the capital. 
In his route he had to contend against the republic of Tlascala, a 
nation continually involved in war with the empire of Mexico. 
Cortez vanquished the republicans in two battles, and, after com- 
pelling them to make peace, he found no difficulty in enlisting 
them against Montezuma. Six thousand Tlascalans w^ere added 
to his European troops as auxiliaries, and he continued his march 
upon the capital of the empire in the guise of friendship. As he 
advanced, he continued to augment his forces by treaties with 
other nations or tribes, which were inimical to Montezuma ; and 
with a European force of five hundred infantry and fifteen horse- 
men, and a large army of Indians, he reached the city of Tenoch- 
titlan on the 8th of November, 1519. The emperor received him 
with a degree of magnificence that excited the astonishment of the 
Spaniards. The whole army was lodged and entertained sump- 
tuously, and Cortez himself received presents to a great amount. 
Some of these he enumerates to Charles the Fifth, in order to 
give him an idea of the riches and ingenuity of this extraordinary 
people. 

It is not surprising, that at the sight of so much wealth, Cortez 
should form the wish to become possessed of it. He soon ac- 
quired an ascendency over the timid Mexicans, and Montezuma 
found that in admitting an armed and powerful friend into the heart 
of his capital, he had delivered himself and his people into the 
hands of a ferocious enemy. 

The Mexican general, Qualpopoca, who had committed some 
hostilities upon the colony left by the Spaniards at Vera Cruz 
was, on the demand of Cortez, delivered up to him, bound hand and 
foot, and by his order was burnt alive. Soon after this barbarous 
act, he contrived to get possession of the person of Montezuma, 
and detained him prisoner. But what, perhaps, irritated the people 
more even than this violation of the person of the emperor, was 
the contempt with which their religious rites and idols were treated 
by the Spaniards. 

The arrival of Narvaez on the coast, with a large force, de- 
spatched by Velasco to deprive Cortez of the command, compelled 



HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO. 30J 

the latter to leave Alvarado in command of the force at Tenochtit 
Ian, and to march against this unexpected enemy. His departm-e 
from the capital was the signal for the people to manifest the hos- 
tile feeling they had long indulged toward the Spaniards. They 
took up arms against them, burnt the vessels which Cortez had 
constructed to command the lake, and laid siege to the building in 
which the Spaniards were lodged. 

At this period Cortez returned, after having surprised and van 
quished Narvaez. By this action he acquired a great accession 
of force ; and he is said to have had, after his arrival at the capi- 
tal, 'one thousand infantry and one hundred horse. The siege was 
prosecuted with vigor and determination on the part of the natives, 
and the place defended with equal obstinacy and valor on the 
part of the Spaniards. Montezuma, who had ascended the ter- 
race to address his subjects and to quell the insurrection, was 
killed by a stone or arroAV, and his brother Quetlavaca pro- 
claimed his successor. This gave renewed vigor to the Mexi- 
cans, and Cortez was compelled to retreat. His own account of 
his flight, in one of his letters, is well worth reading. The night 
of this disastrous retreat was called La Noche triste, the melan- 
choly night. 

Cortez continued to retreat upon Tlascala, the Mexicans pur- 
suing and harassing his rear. At Otumba, he was obliged to turn 
and give them battle. He describes his own troops as worn out 
with fatigue, but says that the enemy were so numerous that they 
could neither fight nor fly ; and that the slaughter continued the 
whole day, until one of their principal chiefs was killed, which 
put an end to the battle and to the war. He reached Tlascala 
without further trouble, with the remnant of his forces, and was 
well received by his old allies. 

He was urged by his oflicers, and by the garrison of Vera Cruz, 
to retire to the coast, but refused to abandon the conquest of 
Mexico ; and, in order to maintain the ascendency he had acquired 
over the people of Tlascala, he made incursions into the territo- 
ries of the neighboring nations, whence he always returned victo- 
rious, and loaded with spoil. 

In December, 1521, he again marched upon Tenochtitlan, ani 



302 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO. 

took up his quarters in Tezcuco. From this place he carried on 
the war against the Mexicans and their allies, until the arrival of 
the frames of thirteen small vessels, which he had ordered to be 
constructed in Tlascala. They were brought by such a multitude 
of Indians, Cortez says, that " from the time the first began to 
enter the city until the last finished, more than six hours elapsed." 
In order to launch these brigantines, as he calls them, a canal of 
half a mile in length was cut from the lake, of such ample dimen- 
sions, that eight thousand Indians worked every day at it, for fifty 
days, before it was completed. 

On reviewing his troops, after the vessels were on the lake, he 
found that he had eighty-six horsemen, one hundred and eighteen 
fusiliers, and upward of seven hundred infantry, armed with 
swords and bucklers, three large iron field-pieces, and fifteen 
small ones of bronze, with ten quintals of powder. He does not 
give the number of Indians then with him, but on the following 
day he despatched messengers to Tlascala and other provinces, 
to inform these people that he was ready to proceed against Te- 
nochtitlan. In consequence of this advice, the captains of Tlas- 
cala arrived with their forces, well appointed and well armed ; 
and, according to their report, they amounted to upward of fifty 
thousand. 

He divided his forces into three corps : one, consisting of thirty 
horsemen, eighteen fusiliers, and one hundred and fifty infantry, 
armed with sword and buckler, and twenty-five thousand Tlasca- 
lans, was commanded by Pedro de Alvarado, and was to occupy 
Tacuba. Another, commanded by Christoval Olid, consisted of 
thirty-three horsemen, eighteen fusiliers, and one hundred and 
seventy infantry, armed with sword and buckler, together with 
upward of twenty thousand Indians, was to take possession of 
Cuyoacan. The third division was intrusted to Gonzalo de San- 
doval ; it amounted to twenty-four horsemen, fifteen fusiliers, and 
one hundred and fifty infantry, armed with sword and buckler, 
with thirty thousand Indians. This division was to march upon 
Iztapalapan, destroy that town, and then, under cover of the ves- 
sels, form a junction with that of Olid. Cortez himself com- 
manded the fleet. As soon as they reached their several destina- 



mSTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO. 303 

tions, Alvarado and Olid destroyed the aqueducts, and cut off the 
supply of water from the city. 

After a siege of seventy-five days, during which both parties 
displayed the most obstinate courage, the besieged, reduced to the 
last extremity by disease and famine, made an attempt to evacuate 
the city by water. They were pursued by the light squadron of 
the Spaniards ; and the canoe Avhich carried the person of the 
emperor was captured by Garcia Holguin. This capture put an 
end to the war. When Gautimotzin, who had succeeded to the 
throne on the death of his uncle, was brought before Cortez, on 
the terrace where he was standing, and which overlooked the lake 
— he advanced, says Cortez, toward me, and said that he had 
done everything which his duty required, to defend himself and his 
subjects, until he was reduced to this state, and that I might now 
do with him what I thought proper ; and put his hand on a dagger 
that I wore, telling me to stab him. 

The siege was commenced on the 30th of May, 1521, and ter- 
minated on the 13th of August ; and Cortez says, that during these 
seventy-five days, not one passed without some combat between 
the besieged and the Spaniards 

The captured Mexicans were divided among the conquerors ; 
and Cortez informs the emperor that he had preserved his share 
of the gold and silver, and his fifth of the slaves, and other things, 
which by right belonged to his Majesty — and as slaves they con- 
tinued to be treated for centuries, notwithstanding the humane laws 
passed in Spain for their relief. 

It would be tedious and unprofitable to trace the colonial history 
of Mexico from the conquest to the revolution. From great natu- 
ral advantages, this country has become rich and powerful, in 
spite of a most impolitic colonial system. In justice to the gov- 
ernment of Spain, it must be acknowledged that the laws of the 
Indies were wise and just, and the regidations relating to the poor 
Indians framed in the very spirit of humanity ; but their adminis- 
tration was bad, and the Creoles were oppressed by their European 
masters — and, in their turn, harassed and oppressed the unfortu- 
nate natives. Almost the only bright spot in the page of this his- 
tory, is the period of the administration of the viceroy Revilla- 



304 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MEXICO. 

gigedo. Good roads, leading from the capital to different parts 
of the kingdom, were laid out and constructed by his orders ; and 
the streets of the principal cities were paved and lighted, and a 
good police established. The only authentic statistical account 
of this country was made out at this period; and almost every 
salutary law or regulation now in existence may be traced to the 
administration of Revillagigedo. 

The immediate causes of the revolution of the Spanish colonies 
are too generally known to require any further explanation The 
invasion of Spain by Napoleon only accelerated a revolution, 
toward which the Americans were slowly but irresistibly impelled 
by the conduct of the mother country, and by the political events 
of the age. — [Poinsett.] 



THE END. 



31j.77 



